MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota Court of Appeals judge has overturned the murder conviction of a man accused of it in which another man was fatally shot during a vigil in north Minneapolis three years ago.
Deandre Dontae Turner was convicted last year of second-degree intentional homicide and sentenced to decades in prison in connection with the death of Andrew T. McGinley on June 30, 2021, outside the Elks Club at North Plymouth and Knox avenues.
McGinley died of multiple gunshot wounds during an outdoor ceremony following a funeral.
According to court documents filed Nov. 18, Judge Jeanne Cochran vacated the conviction and remanded the case to district court, writing that Turner “received a fair trial due to evidentiary errors and multiple instances of prosecutorial misconduct.”
The shooting
Court records show Turner was among about 200 people present when a fight broke out during the vigil between McGinley and another man, both of whom were allegedly affiliated with different gangs. During their struggle, McGinley was shot in the leg.
As the other man fled, court documents show someone came up behind McGinley and shot him several times in the back, killing him.
The quality of surveillance footage of the shooting was described as “extremely poor” and the gunman’s face was indistinguishable. While footage showed the shooter wearing a red shirt and black pants, similar to what Turner wore that day, court records show many attendees wore those colors.
Court documents show that a witness spoke to Minneapolis police weeks later and, at the “suggestion” of a sergeant, “agreed that Turner shot the victim.” No other witnesses identified Turner as the shooter.
The process
During Turner’s 2023 trial, forensic investigators matched shell casings and spent bullets collected at the scene to a gun used in three previous shootings, although no evidence was presented in court linking Turner to those crimes.
According to the court, the state’s case was based on the testimony of the aforementioned police sergeant and composite video from surveillance footage that at times did not match his account on the witness stand.
The aforementioned witness also stated that although he knew Turner and was close to the shooting, he did not remember witnessing it or seeing Turner. After objections from the defense, the judge ruled in favor of the prosecutor and deemed the witness’s statement to the sergeant admissible.
Another man who drove Turner home from the wake testified that he did not see who killed McGinley, nor did he see Turner with a gun, court documents state.
Turner himself took the stand, where he admitted that he falsely told officers he wasn’t at the vigil months after the shooting, explaining that he lied because he follows “a code” of not talking to police.
According to the criminal complaint, he was tipped off before his arrest that he was a suspect, but did not turn himself in because he had not shot McGinley, whom he said he did not know.
Turner was ultimately sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.
The appeal and subsequent ruling
Turner appealed his conviction, with Cochran ultimately siding with the defense in their claims that the witness’s out-of-court statement identifying Turner should never have been admitted into court.
Cochran also wrote the sergeant’s testimony — especially when he offered his opinion on Turner’s guilt and called him the “fatal shooter” while recounting surveillance footage — “may have unduly influenced the jury.”
The judge also agreed that the evidence regarding the identity of the shooter was “weak,” and the prosecution’s claims that Turner was a gang member and used a lot of drugs at the wake – both without any corroborating evidence – were to the details that supported the defense’s claims. prosecutorial misconduct.
Cochran concluded that Turner had been denied a fair trial, and that this was “the rare case that warranted reversal.”
Turner now faces a new trial starting at an unspecified date.
