A Minnesota man whose juvenile murder sentence was commuted is found guilty on gun and drug charges

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A choose has convicted a Minnesota man on gun and drug costs in a case that drew consideration as a result of he was sentenced to life in jail as a teen in a high-profile homicide case and spent 18 years in jail earlier than his sentence was commuted.

Hennepin County Decide Mark Kappelhoff dominated in a “stipulated proof trial” that the proof was enough to search out Myon Burrell responsible of each possession of a firearm by an ineligible individual and of fifth-degree drug possession. Prosecution and protection attorneys had agreed earlier to let the choose resolve the case based mostly on mutually agreed upon proof as an alternative of taking it to trial.

Kappelhoff famous in his ruling, dated Friday, that either side agreed that the ultimate decision of the case will rely upon a ruling from the Minnesota Courtroom of Appeals on whether or not police within the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale made a legitimate cease and search in August 2023 once they discovered a handgun and medicines in Burrell’s car. The fees shall be dropped if the appeals courtroom guidelines that the cease was unconstitutional, because the protection argues. A sentencing date has not been set.

Burrell was convicted earlier within the 2002 loss of life of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, a Minneapolis woman who was hit by a stray bullet. Burrell was 16 on the time of the slaying and was sentenced to life. He maintained his innocence. The Related Press and APM Studies in 2020 uncovered new proof and severe flaws in that investigation, in the end resulting in the creation of an unbiased authorized panel to evaluation the case.

That led the state pardons board to commute Burrell’s sentence after he had spent greater than half his life in jail. Nevertheless, his pardon request was denied so his 2008 conviction for first-degree homicide remained on his report, making it nonetheless unlawful for him to have a gun.

The proof from his arrest final 12 months included statements from the arresting officer, who mentioned he noticed Burrell driving erratically, and that when he stopped Burrell, smoke got here out of the window and that he smelled a robust odor of burnt marijuana. Burrell failed subject sobriety assessments to find out whether or not he was driving underneath the affect. The search turned up a handgun and drugs, a few of which subject examined optimistic for methamphetamine and ecstasy.

A distinct choose, Peter Cahill, dominated through the pretrial proceedings that the cease and search have been authorized. Burrell’s attorneys had argued that the officer lacked enough justification to make the cease, and that scent of marijuana the officer cited was not a robust sufficient motive for the search, given a ruling final 12 months from the Minnesota Supreme Courtroom that odor alone isn’t possible trigger for a search.

A separate drug cost stemming from a cease in Could stays pending. Burrell has a listening to in that case Sept. 23.