HCAO Press Conference: Supporting Vacating Murder Conviction of Innocent Man (09/23/24)

Hennepin County Attorney’s Office Supports Vacating Murder Conviction
of Innocent Man
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. -- Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced today that after a
careful review of the records, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office agrees with the conclusion of
the Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit that the murder conviction of Edgar BarrientosQuintana should be vacated.
In 2009, a jury found Mr. Barrientos-Quintana guilty of killing Jesse Mickelson, an 18-year-old
bystander, during a drive-by shooting in south Minneapolis. Mr. Barrientos-Quintana was sentenced
to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Attorney General’s Conviction Review Unit thoroughly examined the case and in a 181-page report stated:
“For the reasons set forth in this Report, the Conviction Review Unit has concluded that the evidence convincingly establishes Barrientos-Quintana’s innocence and that he was convicted of a crime that he did not commit. Because his conviction lacks integrity, the CRU recommends that his conviction be vacated, and the charges dismissed.”
The HCAO conducted its own thorough review of the case, including the Attorney General’s report and recommendation to vacate the conviction and dismiss the charges. The HCAO agrees with this
recommendation, and the office filed a response stating this with the court today. “We do not reach this conclusion lightly; and we do not reach it with any joy. This has been a terrible process for Jesse Mickelson’s family, who are sitting with the emotions of knowing that an innocent
man has been in prison in Jesse’s name,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. “To Jesse’s family and loved ones, I am so deeply sorry for what you are going through. “We are hopeful that the court will give Mr. Barrientos-Quintana the relief we believe he deserves.
But this is a sad day all around. Our legal system failed Mr. Barrientos-Quintana. Our legal system also failed Jesse’s family, who almost 16 years later must again wonder who killed their loved one.”
The Conviction Review Unit’s investigation “shows that a confluence of errors made by criminal justice system actors resulted in a wrongful conviction,” the report said. The numerous issues the CRU allege in the report include:
• No physical evidence tied Mr. Barrientos-Quintana to the case.
• Mr. Barrientos-Quintana's strong alibi, which includes video showing him and his girlfriend
at a Maplewood grocery store located 33 minutes away before the shooting, and phone
records showing him at his girlfriend’s home in a suburb located 28 minutes east of Saint
Paul after the shooting. As part of the CRU investigation, a former MPD sergeant traced the
same route and found it took “well over” 33 minutes to get to the scene, “making it
improbable, if not impossible, for Barrientos-Quintana to be the shooter.”
• Several witnesses named someone else as the shooter early on, and police pressured them
to instead identify Mr. Barrientos-Quintana. One witness later recanted his testimony.
• Prosecutors elicited false police testimony that no one had identified someone other than
Mr. Barrientos-Quintana as the shooter.
• Photo lineups violated numerous MPD protocols and best practices.
• The eyewitnesses initially described the shooter as bald, shiny bald, or with a closely
shaved, bald head. The photo lineup they were shown contained an old photo of Mr.
Barrientos-Quintana with a shaved head, but at the time of the shooting, he had a thick
head of dark hair which can clearly be seen on the Cub video 33 minutes before the
shooting.
• Law enforcement threatened youth witnesses with prosecution or that they’d even be
treated as the shooter if they didn’t identify Mr. Barrientos-Quintana.
• The prosecution at the time failed to disclose important evidence to the defense or didn’t
disclose it in time for the defense to use it at trial.
• The prosecution knew that a lead investigator made scripted comments about the
investigation for “The First 48,” which aired shortly before the trial, and did not disclose that
fact to the defense.
The judge will decide whether to set aside the verdict. If the court vacates Mr. Barrientos-Quintana's
conviction, the HCAO will dismiss the charges.