A Minnesota man wrongfully convicted of murder in 2009 and sent to prison is now free.
Edgar Barrientos-Quintana was accused and tried for the killing of a 16-year old in a Minneapolis alley. A jury eventually found him guilty, but missing details uncovered by attorneys with the Innocence Project proved otherwise during a three-year investigation.
Attorney Julie Jonas says there was alot that didn't add up.
"All of the witnesses had described the shooter as bald, even shiny-headed bald," Jonas explained. "And he, because he was on the video a half hour before the shooting, we could see that he had a full head of hair and we knew he also couldn't have shaved it in the interim. Because then he was on a separate video later that evening at a party where he still had a full head of hair."
In vacating Mr. Barrientos’s conviction, the court ordered him released from prison pending further proceedings in his case. Subsequently, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office dismissed the case.
“My thoughts are with Jesse’s friends and family, who lost him to a senseless act of violence, and who are still waiting for justice,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. “Mr. Barrientos was deprived of his freedom, and his loved ones were deprived of his presence, for the last 16 years. This case underscores the importance of reviewing claims of wrongful convictions without fear or favor, and when evidence leads to the conclusion that the wrong person was convicted of a crime, acting to correct that injustice.”
Jonas says 22 of Barrientos-Quintana's family members showed up to welcome him as he was released from prison Wednesday.
"Edgar had four different counsel over the period of time, two of whom have since been disbarred," says Jonas. "One was suspended but was reinstated. And it was just their handling of the evidence that they did have. They didn't handle the alibi well."