BY KAY SCHROVEN
Seven months after Marvin Haynes was exonerated, having served nearly 20 years in Stillwater Prison for a murder he didn’t commit, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced the creation of the first Hennepin County Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU). The unit will be led by Andrew Markquart, former Staff Attorney with the Great Northern Innocence Project (GNIP) and counsel for Mr. Haynes, whose case was overturned based on faulty eye-witness testimony.
Markquart has investigated and represented wrongful conviction cases in both State and Federal Courts. He also co-authored The Wrong Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution, a book about a case of mistaken identity in Texas in the 1980s that led to the wrongful execution of Carlos DeLuna. This case is the basis for Patrick Forbes’ 2021 documentary, The Phantom (on Netflix).
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty
Moriarty says, “This new unit is dedicated to justice, integrity and transparency. The unit’s purpose is to learn from and correct past errors and improve the Hennepin County system going forward.” The unit will also free up the existing Minnesota State’s Attorney General’s Offices Conviction Review Unit (CRU) to focus on out-state cases.
A Conviction Integrity Unit is a division of a prosecutorial office that works to prevent, identify and remedy false convictions. CIUs are increasing in large cities across the country, now totaling about 100. While CIUs—alone or in cooperation with other groups (such as The Innocence Project)—helped secure over 50 percent of exonerations reported in 2021, their impact varies. There are some who view CIUs as watch dogs, policing the police, attorneys and others who participate in the judicial system. Criticism of CIUs mostly revolves around the belief that they exist “in name only.” That is, they are created to improve public opinion. After all, elected officials need to stay in the good graces of the public, right? Is it a way to appear “progressive and accountable”? As CIUs gained traction the Bar Association amended the Model Rules MR3.8 (g) to compel prosecutors from coast to coast to place justice above convictions. “Cautiously optimistic” is the term often used in discussions about CIUs. Moriarty assures us that “No prosecutor wants to see innocent people convicted of crimes; and as the work of the CIU is better understood and best practices are in place, people will come around. Errors happen. We are human.”
Multiple research sources identify eye-witness misidentification as the #1 reason for wrongful convictions. Race is a significant risk factor because eye-witness misidentification disproportionately impacts people of color. According to the Innocence Project, 63 percent of wrongful convictions involve eyewitness misidentifications. Wrongful conviction comes with a high cost and can be caused by any number of errors or a combination including:
Official misconduct
Perjury or false accusation
False or misleading forensic evidence
False confessions
Ineffective lawyers
Biased jurors
Withheld evidence
Faulty forensic science
Erroneous jury instructions
According to the National Registry of Exonerations (2021 report) Innocence organizations and CIUs took part in 84 exonerations (61 percent) These cases involved homicide and sex crimes, as well as non-violent crimes. Reported in 2019, Minnesota had 16 exonerations since 1989 (16 in 30 years), Texas led the pack with 363 (mostly drug related) and New Hampshire had just 1.
When asked what propelled her toward creating a CIU for Hennepin County, Moriarty cites her 30 years of experience as public defender and county prosecuting attorney. She also shared that a 2009 study published by the National Academy of Sciences re: forensic science influenced her. The NAS report (Strengthening Forensic Science in the U.S. – a Path Forward) established a blueprint for research, engaged the scientific community and spurred important reform. It also fostered a new understanding between the scientific community and the criminal justice system. It was this report that opened Moriarty’s eyes to the fact that forensic science is not infallible and that more work needs to be done. Scientific progress with DNA, blood and fingerprint evidence, cell phone tracking, facial recognition, wide use of cameras, license plate readers, etc. has revealed errors and created the need for reexamination of evidence and conviction in certain cases. As Moriarty planned her 2024 budget she requested and was granted a budget for a CIU.
Deciding which cases are of merit will be part of Markquart’s job. This will require more than just reviewing existing documents. It will involve interviewing forensic scientists, medical professionals, witnesses, would-be witnesses, various experts, etc. He and Moriarty stress that they will need to dig deep, respect confidentiality and be thorough in their processes and practices in order to gain the trust of the legal community and the communities they serve. “In order to gain integrity and respect we have a lot of educating to do, not only with our internal staff, but the community as well. When a conviction is overturned it can be devastating to the family of the victim. We must approach these cases with a great deal of empathy.”
The new unit is in its infancy, establishing practices and protocol, staffing up and setting up. “It is critical that we get best practices in place before we accept applications for case review.” In this environment, with the support of the county, Markquart will have more resources than he has had in the past. He anticipates a high volume of applications, and he plans to be rigorous in determining which cases truly have merit.
Prosecutors will decide if there is enough evidence to reexamine a case. The defense attorney will petition the court seeking relief. A judge will make the final decision. Moriarty and Markquart point out that exoneration is not the only measure of success, although this is often the focus when examining CIUs. New evidence may support a reduced sentence; a lesser crime may be established as well as parole rather than incarceration. Simply having such a function where past errors can be identified, addressed, examined and corrected when appropriate is a success in itself.
