Hennepin County Attorney requests US Justice Department review Myon Burrell case

KSTP

Myon Burrell, convicted in the murder of Tyesha Edwards, an 11-year-old girl pierced in the heart by a stray bullet in 2002 while doing homework at her family's dining room table, stands for a photograph at the Stillwater Correctional Facility, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, in Stillwater, Minn. A growing number of legal experts, community leaders and civil rights activists are concerned that Burrell may have been wrongly convicted, as there was no gun, fingerprints or hard evidence to implicate him.[(AP Photo/John Minchillo)]

On Monday, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced his office has asked Sen. Amy Klobuchar to request the U.S. Department of Justice review the conviction of Myon Burrell.

Burrell was convicted of the murder of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards in 2002. He was 16 at the time of his arrest.

In response to a letter Klobuchar sent to the office last week, Freeman noted that only the DOJ would have the resources to independently review the case, which includes 30,000 pages of documents, plus videotaped evidence.

Freeman also stressed in his letter that not only would his office cooperate with any review by the DOJ, but his office would continue the most recent internal review of the case, which began about seven months ago. That process has included several meetings with Burrell's new attorney and an agreement to review additional information which he provided, according to the attorney's office.

Freeman also mentioned in the letter that there are Minnesota Supreme Court opinions and a district court order that both detail the evidence and testimony in the two trials in which Burrell was found guilty.

Those filings provide a full picture of why he was found guilty and why, ultimately, his conviction was upheld, Freeman said.

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