News

  • The Case of Marvin Haynes – Part Three: The Framing of Marvin Haynes

    March 20, 2023

    This is the third in an ongoing Unicorn Riot investigation into the case of Marvin Haynes, who was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 17 for a murder he says he didn’t commit. As of this writing, he remains imprisoned at the Stillwater Correctional Facility.

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  • The Case of Marvin Haynes [The Film]

    March 16, 2023

    Unicorn Riot: The Case of Marvin Haynes follows a tortuous path created decades ago in Minneapolis by county attorneys, overly ambitious, racist cops, faulty eyewitness identification procedures, pressure from those in power to find a shooter quickly, and a series of coerced teenage witnesses. That path ends at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, where Marvin Haynes and so many men like him sit behind bars.

    Four of those teenage witnesses have since recounted their testimonies, providing statements to the Great North Innocence Project describing how they were coerced by police into going along with the frame-up. Watch our film featuring one of the former witnesses along with Marvin’s sister Marvina Haynes, family investigator Robert Johnson, former Minneapolis Police Officer Sarah Saarela, and founder of Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB), Michelle Gross.

    View the video

  • Innocence Project seeks to exonerate Marvin Haynes of 2004 north Minneapolis flower shop killing

    March 4, 2023

    Star Tribune: Nearly two decades ago a robber shot 55-year-old Randy Sherer to death in his family's flower shop in north Minneapolis. The teenager convicted of the crime is now a man who has spent most of his life in prison, insisting he is innocent….

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  • The Case of Marvin Haynes – Part Two: The Murder of Randy Sherer​​

    February 23, 2023

    The second in an ongoing Unicorn Riot investigative series into the case of Marvin Haynes, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 at the age of 17 for a murder he says he didn’t commit. As of this writing, he remains imprisoned at the Stillwater Correctional Facility.

    Read the full article

  • The Case of Marvin Haynes – Part One

    February 7, 2023

    The first in an ongoing Unicorn Riot investigative series into the case of Marvin Haynes, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 at the age of 17 for a murder he says he didn’t commit. As of this writing, he remains imprisoned at the Stillwater Correctional Facility.

    Read the full article

  • More than two dozen formerly incarcerated men were moved out of transitional housing — and no one is telling them why

    November 8, 2022

    Star Tribune: Authorities allege criminal activity at Great River Landing, but the displaced men say they weren't given any specifics.

    Tracy Phillips and Jake Wylie were forced to move out of Great River Landing to a rooming house in downtown Minneapolis that lacks the same amenities and visiting privileges.

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  • Dozens left stranded after being forced out of transitional housing in Minneapolis

    October 7, 2022

    MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Released from custody about a month ago, Anthony Jefferson says Better Futures Minnesota gave him the resources he needed to get back on his feet.

    "Housing, stability, peace of mind... it's very important because you don't want to go back to prison," said Jefferson.

    Read the full article and view the video