MINNEAPOLIS — After more than ten years behind bars, Edgar Barrientos-Quintana is a free man. He was serving a life sentence for a murder, the province’s top prosecutor now says he hasn’t committed.
“You know it’s going to happen. The system is so slow. It’s going to happen. You just don’t know when,” he said.
In 2008, camera crews from the TV show “First 48” followed the murder of 18-year-old Jesse Mickelson in south Minneapolis, following Minneapolis police detectives until they arrested Barrientos-Quintana.
A 130-page report from Minnesota’s Conviction Review Unit identified the detective, then a Minneapolis police sergeant. Christopher Gaiters, coerced as a witness, did not reveal any evidence during the trial and completely fabricated parts of the episode.
The judge wrote that Gaiters had “lied repeatedly” to Barrientos-Quintana, and while testifying at trial, he either “forgot one of the most relevant facts from the beginning of the investigation or he committed perjury in an attempt to mislead Mr. Barrientos-Quintana. .”
Last summer, Gaiters was appointed to a new position: Assistant Chief of Community Trust.
“We know people make mistakes, we all do. The criminal justice system makes mistakes. Sometimes mistakes slip through the cracks of our justice system,” said Carrie Sperling, who works for the Conviction Review Unit of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office .
In a ruling vacating Barrientos-Quintana’s convictions and ordering his release, Judge John McBride ruled that Barrientos-Quintana had not received a fair trial.
Barrientos-Quintana’s attorney failed to effectively represent him and prosecutors failed to disclose favorable evidence, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. Investigators also used coercive lineup and interrogation tactics, resulting in unreliable eyewitness identifications, she added.
Security footage captured Barrientos-Quintana at a grocery store shortly before the shooting, and the attorney general’s office pointed to phone records not submitted at trial that placed him at his girlfriend’s suburban apartment shortly after the shooting. The Conviction Review Unit determined that he could not have traveled to and from the crime scene during that time.
The reviewers also blamed the police, who showed an old photo of Barrientos-Quintana with a shaved head to eyewitnesses who had described the suspect as bald. Security footage showed Barrientos-Quintana had short, dark hair at the time of the shooting.
“Nothing can give Mr. Barrientos-Quintana those 16 years back, and for that we are so sorry,” Moriarty said. “When the criminal justice system does not function ethically, it causes significant harm. Harm to the accused, who in this case spent 16 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.”
The state’s Conviction Review Unit says it has reviewed more than a thousand cases so far. This is only the third time a case has been recommended to be dismissed.
State law enforcement will review MPD’s handling of the case
Minnesota law enforcement officials will review how the Minneapolis Police Department handled the case.
Less than two months ago, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said he was confident that police investigating the 2008 murder of Jesse Mickelson in south Minneapolis acted with the “utmost integrity.”
On Tuesday, O’Hara said in a statement to WCCO that he has asked the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to take another look.
In September, O’Hara supported Gaiters’ work on the case following an investigation by the Minneapolis Police Department.
“I am confident that the Minneapolis Police Department investigators acted with the utmost integrity and professionalism and followed all available evidence using best investigative practices,” O’Hara said at the time.
In his statement Tuesday, O’Hara said of Gaiters: “I have come to know Assistant Chief Gaiters as a very dedicated and humble public servant. He is immensely qualified to serve as Assistant Chief of Community Trust and Engagement, and I am grateful that he continues to serve our residents every day. He has my full support.”
The murdered man’s family supported Barrientos-Quintana on Tuesday and said they are grateful that he can be home for the holidays.
Adam Duxter
