Unicorn Riot

The Case of Marvin Haynes [The Film]

In 2004, Randy Sherer, a 55-year-old white man, was killed in Jerry’s Flower Shop in North Minneapolis. Charged for that murder was Marvin Haynes, a young Black 16-year-old. Despite Haynes’ insistent claims that he was innocent and no physical evidence linking Haynes to the murder, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison based on coerced jailhouse testimony. Haynes has been incarcerated in Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater since 2006. This film spotlights Marvin’s case, following a tortuous path created decades ago in Minneapolis by county attorneys, overly ambitious, racist cops, faulty eyewitness identification procedures, pressure from those in power to find a shooter quickly, and a series of threatened teenage witnesses.