In an effort to “ensure justice, accountability, and transparency,” the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is rolling out a new unit dedicated to reviewing possible wrongful convictions. 

The attorney’s office says the Conviction Integrity Unit’s purpose is to check cases to “rectify wrongful convictions and identify mistakes in past persecutions” in the county. 

“Fair trials are the bedrock of the criminal legal system,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “Without them, proper convictions may be overturned, innocent people can be convicted, and people who actually commit crimes remain free to harm others in the community.”

Moriarty says cases with a “credible basis” to suspect a wrongful conviction or serious injustice have happened will be investigated. 

The new unit is getting rolled out just months after a Hennepin County judge vacated a 2004 murder conviction in a case handled by county persecutors. The man convicted, Marvin Haynes, spent nearly 20 years in prison. 

Haynes, at the news conference about the new unit, shared his hopes for the future. 

“It’s a chance for the prosecutor office to take another look at cases like mine where the system gets wrong and to make things right,” Haynes said. 

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The team behind Haynes’ vacated conviction was the Great North Innocence Project (GNIP), a nonprofit dedicated to finding justice for those wrongfully convicted. 

“It’s the most fulfilling work I’ve ever done,” GNIP Executive Director Sara Jones said.

Jones says she’s excited about the new county unit and says these specialty units are becoming more common throughout the country. 

“Anything that helps us get to the truth, and to a bit more justice for people is just enormously meaningful,” Jones said. 

A similar unit was recently rolled out statewide under the umbrella of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. Moriarty says her office’s unit is designed to tackle cases in Minnesota’s most populous county, allowing the AG to focus on the rest of the state.

According to the HCAO, all but two of the 32 U.S. counties with more people than Hennepin County have some form of a conviction integrity unit.

The person set to lead the new unit is the former managing attorney for the GNIP, Andrew Markquart. 

“We also want to not just be backward-looking but also be forward-looking, and to learn from past mistakes, and find ways to improve our system going forward and to prevent future and injustices,” Markquart said. 

The HCAO says there will be information on how to recommend cases to the unit online once it’s fully up and running.