Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison has decided to "eliminate" the state's Conviction Review Unit (CRU) less than six years after he created it. The closure is a devastating blow to around 160 CRU applicants in Minnesota prisons whose cases were pending final investigation into their claims of wrongful conviction.
Serving life in prison for a crime he says he didn't commit, Philip Vance's hopes for freedom took a blow last month when a judge denied his fifth postconviction relief petition.
Bryan Hooper Sr. walked out of a Minnesota prison on Sept. 4 after 9,999 days of captivity for a murder he was wrongfully convicted of.
Two decades ago, Philip Vance’s life was set on the scales of justice. And found wanting. Convicted of murder, he was sentenced to life in prison. A jury found him guilty on all three counts: second-degree intentional, first-degree intentional, and first-degree premeditated. In just eight…
Philip Vance is serving a life sentence for a 2002 murder in South St. Paul during a robbery of Sabreen’s Supermarket, but his supporters have long believed this was a false charge after hearing Vance’s pleas of innocence. After waiting more than three years since…
MCF-Rush City, MN — Serving a life sentence for a deadly robbery in South St. Paul in 2002, Philip Vance has always insisted he is innocent. Since his conviction, he’s been exhausting all legal options to get another chance in court to prove he’s been…
Minneapolis, MN — Family members and advocates of two men serving life sentences in Minnesota — Deaunteze Bobo and Jermaine Ferguson — renewed their demands for their loved ones to be released from prison, saying they were wrongfully convicted.
During a press conference in the…
Minneapolis, MN — In a historic ruling, Hennepin County Judge William Koch vacated Marvin Haynes’ murder conviction, dismissed his charges with prejudice, and ordered his release from prison where he was sentenced to serve life. Haynes walked out of MCF-Stillwater as an exonerated man into…
Minnesota’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU) has received nearly 1,000 applications of wrongful incarceration to review but with only a couple paid staff and four grants in two years, impacted families complain about lengthy waits while the CRU say they lack capacity and funding. Created to…
Minneapolis, MN — “We are asking for his immediate release!” Cynthia Haynes demanded passionately, calling for her brother’s release from prison while holding two signs – one read “Free Marvin Haynes Now,” the other, “Justice 4 Marvin Haynes.” As the case of Marvin Haynes starts…
Minneapolis, MN – When Officers Rollins and Smelter pulled up in front of Jerry’s Flower Shop on Sunday morning, May 16, 2004, they saw a woman run out the front door. She was screaming.
She told the officers that her brother was inside and that…
Minneapolis, MN – The grainy surveillance camera footage shows a small interrogation room—fifteen-by-fifteen, white walls, short cut-pile dark carpet, circular table, and a blue swivel chair. A door on the far wall stands open to the hallways and cubicles beyond. The date in the corner…