BAYPORT, Minn. (AP) — A man who was sent to prison as a teenager for the 2004 killing of a man in a Minneapolis flower shop was set free on Monday after a judge ruled the eyewitness evidence on which his conviction rested was unreliable. Marvin Haynes, who was 16 at the time of the killing, had spent most of his life behind bars and was released from prison shortly after the judge’s ruling. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said it agreed with defense attorneys that admitting the shaky evidence violated his constitutional rights during his 2005 trial for the killing of Randy Sherer, 55, who was shot during a robbery.

Marvin Haynes, now 35, expressed his gratitude to everyone who supported him throughout his journey, stating, “And now y’all can recognize that I’m actually innocent.” Later, at a news conference with his attorneys, family members, and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, Haynes said he would visit his mother, who had not been able to visit him in prison for the last three or four years due to a stroke. He expressed hope for employment and the opportunity to rebuild his life.

Moriarty acknowledged that Haynes’ conviction was a “terrible injustice” and enclosed cases involving problems with eyewitness identification. Judge William Koch held that absent the eyewitness evidence, “it is doubtful there would have been sufficient evidence to sustain a conviction” and dismissed all charges with prejudice, meaning they can’t be filed again. Haynes’ attorneys from the Innocence Project showed that he did not match the physical description provided by the primary eyewitness. The judge found problems with how investigators conducted a photo lineup that did not include Haynes. Moriarty noted that one of the lead investigators in the original case, retired Minneapolis Police Lt. Michael Keefe, testified to objections to the lineup procedures at the time but was overruled.

In conclusion, Marvin Haynes’ case is another example of issues surrounding eyewitness identification and the potential for wrongful convictions. The Minnesota Legislature in 2020 tightened the state’s procedures for lineups in an effort to protect against witness misidentifications, highlighting the need for evidence-based practices to ensure fair trials. Haynes’ release is a step towards seeking justice for those wrongfully convicted.