Murder victim’s family processes AG’s report that claims wrong man was sent to prison
A new report from the Minnesota Attorney general’s Office Conviction Review Unit says a 2009 murder conviction should be vacated and the charges be dismissed by the courts.
The Great Northern Innocence Project’s legal team this week filed for post-conviction relief on behalf of Edgar Barrientos-Quintana.
After sunset on Oct. 11, 2008, 18-year-old Roosevelt High School senior Jesse Mickelson was fatally shot in a neighbor’s driveway in Minneapolis.
“Soon before this tragedy, he started to open up and blossom — he got into music,” said Paula Saxton, the victim’s cousin.
Saxton said she sat through the trial to see a Hennepin County jury convict Edgar Barrientos-Quintana for the murder of her loved one.
In a newly released 180-page report, the Attorney General’s Office found “… the evidence convincingly establishes Barrientos’s innocence and that he was convicted of a crime that he did not commit.”
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“It’s harming us a lot — emotionally and mentally,” Saxton said.
When Saxton spoke with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on Thursday afternoon, she was still trying to process the AG’s findings.
The AG’s Office said it found exculpatory evidence, including security video and phone records, that the jury never heard that supported Barrientos’ alibi that he wasn’t there.
The report claims that Barrientos didn’t match the witnesses’ description of the shooter, and prosecutors relied on flawed pre-trial identification procedures.
“I want them to look at all the pieces and not just take a report written by a team because it’s coming from the AG’s office,” Saxton said.
That’s her message to the judge, who will eventually decide Barrientos’ fate and review the case. “If there really is an innocent man, we don’t want an innocent man there — we don’t see innocence at this point therefore there needs to be a hard look at it,” Saxon said.
Julie Jonas, Barrientos’ attorney, wrote, “Edgar Barrientos-Quintana is innocent and we are so pleased with the work of the CRU to prove this and their recommendation acknowledging his innocence.
There is no timeline yet for the Hennepin County Attorney to review the developments nor for the judge to weigh in on the matter.