MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police and the Minneapolis NAACP announced a strengthened partnership Tuesday to address neighbor disputes in the city.

The announcement came just weeks after Minneapolis resident Davis Moturi was allegedly shot by his neighbor John Sawchak after a months-long dispute.

“Mr. Moturi called the police several times. He did everything he was supposed to do. Unfortunately, the Minneapolis Police Department alone was not able to provide that help for him,” Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said.

Police say the department receives more than 2,000 neighbor/tenant complaints a year, which amounts to about 45 calls a week.

Chief O’Hara says these cases are challenging for police to deal with on their own.

“These are often complicated cases and all of them are difficult for police to deal with, particularly those that are civil and do not rise to criminal issues or violence,” O’Hara said.

NAACP Minneapolis President Cynthia Wilson says community groups have long been involved in solving neighborly disputes, but a stronger partnership with police will help community leaders reach more residents who need help.

“This initiative was created to give more options,” Wilson said.

“We’re not going to solve every situation, but we are being proactive.”

Wilson says community leaders are still working out the finer details of how this strengthened partnership will work.

She says residents who are experiencing problems can still call the police for help, or one of several community groups that are involved in this new partnership.

“You’ve got social workers, you got community crime prevention, you got community engagement, inspectors, there are so many different arms to this that will allow us to impact the community effectively,” Wilson said.

Some of these community groups involved in this strengthened partnership include the Minneapolis Unity Community Mediation Team, NAACP Minneapolis, Indigenous Protector Movement, Little Earth Residents Association, New Salem Baptist Church, Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center, Voice of East Africa Women, Nuestra Lucha and Quorum.

Wilson says she and other community leaders are also looking for volunteers and mediators who may be interested in joining their cause.

Hours after this announcement was made, the Minneapolis City Council listened to concerns from the community during a scheduled public comment period Tuesday afternoon.

Dozens of community members showed up at the meeting to raise concerns about how Minneapolis Police handled Moturi’s complaints regarding his neighbor John Sawchak.

Some community members demanded changes such as asking Chief O’Hara and Mayor Jacob Frey to step down from their positions.

Other community members urged the Minneapolis City Council to wait until MPD’s internal investigation is complete before making any significant changes to the department.

During a press event Tuesday Chief O’Hara said the internal investigation into the Moturi case is still ongoing and there is no timeline for when the investigation will be complete.

MINNETONKA, Minn. — The Justice Department is suing to block UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys, citing concerns the combination would hinder access to home health and hospice services in the U.S.

The antitrust complaint was filed in Maryland federal court Tuesday. In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the government is challenging UnitedHealth and Amedisys’ proposed merger because “patients and their families experiencing some of the most difficult moments of their lives deserve affordable, high quality care options.”

The suit follows Minnesota-based UnitedHealth’s acquisition of LHC Group Inc., another home health and hospice provider. Since that transaction’s completion last year, the Justice Department said, UnitedHealth and Amedisys have emerged as the two largest providers of home health and hospice care in the country.

The department argues that eliminating competition between UnitedHealth and Amedisys “would harm patients who receive home health and hospice services, insurers who contract for home health services, and nurses who provide home health and hospice services.”

Four states’ attorneys general — from Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey and New York — are joining the Justice Department in the antitrust complaint.

UnitedHealth is seeking to add Amedisys to Optum, its subsidiary that provides care as well as pharmacy and technology services. Optum said Tuesday the acquisition “would be pro-competitive and further innovation.” It said it plans to “vigorously defend (itself) against the DOJ’s overreaching interpretation of the antitrust laws.”

Louisiana-based Amedisys added that it also remains committed to the deal, which it believes “will create more opportunities to deliver quality, compassionate and value-based care to patients and their families.”

Beyond its Optum unit, UnitedHealth Group also runs one of the nation’s largest health insurers, UnitedHealthcare. Last month, UnitedHealth reported a third-quarter net income of $6.06 billion on revenue of $100.82 billion.

MINNEAPOLIS — A man who spent nearly 20 years behind bars is asking the state of Minnesota for $2 million to make up for that lost time after his murder conviction was vacated.

Marvin Haynes and his attorneys filed a claim with the Minnesota State Supreme Court on Nov. 7, maintaining he was wrongfully arrested, convicted and incarcerated in 2005 for a murder he did not commit. He was just 16 years old at the time he was convicted.  

Haynes was exonerated and released from prison in Dec. 2023, meaning he spent more than 19 years imprisoned for a crime both Haynes and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office say he did not commit. On the day it was announced that Haynes would be released, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty apologized to him, saying his civil rights were violated in the 2005 trial and that securing his freedom would be “a step toward righting this wrong.”

“It is not easy to admit and correct our wrongs but it is necessary,” Moriarty said in a news conference. “To Marvin Haynes: You lost the opportunity to graduate from high school, to attend prom, have relationships, attend weddings and funerals and spend time with your family around the holidays. I’m so deeply sorry for that.”

In his claim for damages, Haynes and his legal team note that on Sept. 12, 2024, the Hennepin County District Court issued an order finding that Haynes is eligible for compensation. His attorneys say state statutes dictate that Haynes is entitled to damages “of not less than $50,000 for each year of incarceration” and additional monies based on economic damages, medical expenses, physical or non-physical injuries or sickness resulting from his incarceration plus expenses for education, housing and transportation as he tries to rebuild his life. 

“His noneconomic damages include, but are not limited to, nearly 20 years of loss of liberty, past and future severe mental anguish, emotional distress and psychological damage; loss of familial relationships; loss of reputation; physical pain and suffering; humiliation, indignities and embarrassment; permanent loss of natural psychological development; and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of restrictions on all forms of personal freedom including diet, sleep, personal contact, personal fulfillment, sexual activity, family relations, reading, television, movies, travel, enjoyment and expression,” his attorneys asserted in the claim. 

Based on those alleged damages, Marvin Haynes is asking the State of Minnesota for $100,000 for each year of his incarceration, a total of nearly $2 million. 

Haynes was convicted in Sept. 2005 for the murder of 55-year-old Harry “Randy” Sherer, the owner of a flower shop in north Minneapolis. After a jury found Haynes guilty, he reportedly said out loud in the courtroom, “I didn’t kill that man!”

“Marvin has proclaimed his innocence since day one,” said his sister Marvina Haynes said in Nov. 2023 as the effort to overturn Haynes’ murder conviction reached its conclusion. “There’s nothing linking Marvin to the crime scene. The evidence — they don’t have any.”

The Minneapolis-based Great North Innocence Project led Haynes’ legal challenge for post-conviction relief, arguing in court filings that the original trial relied on “false evidence” from witnesses and “constitutionally defective eyewitness identification evidence.” 

Haynes’ attorneys claim that important eyewitness testimony in the case “should have been suppressed because it was the result of highly suggestive identification techniques and was wholly unreliable.” There was no physical evidence linking Haynes to the murder.

Police and prosecutors who worked the case still believe Marvin Haynes was the person who killed Harry Sherer. Former Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Mike Furnstahl, who served as the lead prosecutor during the 2005 trial, said suggestions of Haynes’ innocence are “really a joke.” 

“The reason this case is coming back now is not because there’s substantial and compelling evidence that Marvin Haynes is innocent, but rather because political winds are blowing in his favor,” said Furnstahl, who was also the prosecutor in the Myon Burrell case. 

“If the judge grants the petition for post-conviction relief, I would make sure the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office files an appeal on it. I wouldn’t let them just stand by and let this guy walk out of prison. Because [Haynes] murdered that man. There was no question in my mind. There was no question in the jurors’ minds.”