It was a moment 16 years in the making for Edgar Barrientos-Quintana, who was released from Minnesota state prison after a judge vacated his conviction.

“I just wanted to thank everybody behind me. Everybody here had a role to for me to be free,” Barrientos-Quintana said earlier this week at a news conference in Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU) report found “…the evidence convincingly establishes Barrientos’ innocence…”

“Sometimes those mistakes can lead to real injustices; when you can correct one of those, it is really satisfying,” said Carrie Sperling, director of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit.

Barrientos’ lawyers at the Great North Innocence Project used the state report to advocate for his freedom.

A judge agreed, saying police, prosecutors and the defense failed Barrientos and vacated his conviction.

“An independent fact finder, with no sort of investment in the outcome, is the best way to vet claims of innocence,” Sperling said.

The Conviction Review Unit has a staff of around five people, who began looking into cases in the summer of 2021.

Since then, Sperling said 1,100 inmates have submitted their cases for review by the unit.

In a vast majority of those cases — over 900 — the unit has closed out, while others are in the cue for review.

The CRU said 15 cases are being investigated now.

“We look to see certain things to prioritize those claims — Are there credible leads that we could follow that could show their innocence?” Sperling said. “Obviously, we are looking first for scientific evidence.”

That includes if there might be DNA that could connect or exclude the applicant to the crime.

The CRU has found three cases out of the more than 900 reviewed that they say the courts got wrong.

“It’s also satisfying in the cases that we close without relief, where we see that the system usually works,” Sperling said.