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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Myon Burrell, who was despatched to jail for all times as a young person however was let out after 18 years behind bars, was arrested in a Minneapolis suburb Tuesday after police mentioned they discovered a handgun and medicines in his SUV.
Burrell, now 37, was launched in 2020 after Minnesota’s pardons board commuted his sentence in a high-profile homicide case. The Black man’s prosecution and harsh punishment raised questions concerning the integrity of the felony justice system that put him away for the demise of a younger woman killed by a stray bullet.
The Related Press and APM Experiences in 2020 uncovered new proof and severe flaws within the police investigation, in the end resulting in the creation of an impartial nationwide authorized panel to assessment the case.
The Robbinsdale Police Division mentioned in a information launch that an officer on routine patrol Tuesday noticed an SUV veering out of its lane and adopted it. The SUV continued to drive erratically, above the pace restrict, and went over the lane divider, so the officer made a cease, police mentioned.
The driving force was recognized from his license as Burrell. The discharge mentioned there was “a sign of energetic drug use within the automobile” and {that a} loaded handgun was discovered inside attain of the driving force. Unpackaged marijuana and different suspected medicine additionally had been discovered within the SUV, it mentioned.
Burrell was booked into the Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of possession of a handgun by a prohibited particular person however had not been formally charged. Police mentioned extra expenses of driving whereas intoxicated and drug possession could also be added.
Calls and emails to 1 lawyer who helped safe Burrell’s launch in 2020 weren’t instantly returned, whereas one other mentioned he not represents him. Burrell remained in custody Tuesday night. Folks held within the jail are usually not allowed to take exterior calls.
Burrell, who was 16 on the time, had at all times maintained his innocence within the 2002 killing of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, who was shot within the coronary heart whereas doing homework at her eating room desk along with her little sister. Edwards’ demise enraged the African American group.
The county’s chief prosecutor on the time was Amy Klobuchar, who’s now Minnesota’s senior U.S. senator. She had used Burrell’s conviction over time for instance of her tough-on-crime insurance policies, together with throughout her unsuccessful presidential marketing campaign.
An impartial nationwide authorized panel shaped at her urging to assessment the homicide case concluded that there was a “failure to analyze that illustrates tunnel imaginative and prescient” and that proof that would have helped exonerate Burrell was both ignored or minimized.
He informed the pardons board that he transformed to Islam in jail and have become a non secular chief whereas behind bars.
Whereas Burrell’s sentence was commuted, his request for a pardon was denied so his felony conviction remained on his report.
The brand new questions on Burrell’s case surfaced simply earlier than Minneapolis was thrust into the nationwide highlight by the homicide of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in a case that pressured a nationwide depending on race and policing.
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