What happened to Marvin Haynes?

Marvin Haynes is a wrongly convicted man who was serving a life sentence for the murder of Randy Sherer in 2004. Haynes was sentenced to life in prison when he was just 17 for Sherer’s murder. Sherer was working in his family’s Minneapolis flower shop when he was shot dead. Haynes had always maintained his innocence and no physical evidence linked him to the crime.

Marvin Haynes conviction was overturned and he was released from prison in December 2023. It was revealed that the Police lied about fingerprints being left at the scene, and the judge overturned the conviction on the basis of unconstitutional witness identification that was used to convict Haynes, as well as a lack of physical evidence against him. The murder of Sherer is now officially unsolved, with the Minneapolis Police Department saying the case is now under review.

How did the original prosecutor in the case react?

Hayne’s release wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the Great North Innocence Project. Haynes’ lawyer has stated his client will be looking at seeking compensation under Minnesota’s wrongly convicted law.

The prosecuting lawyer in the original trial, Mike Furnstahl, said he was appalled by Haynes’ release. He claimed it was strange that Haynes’ initial appeal didn’t address the issues with the eyewitness identification evidence. Furnstahl also said multiple people testified during the trial that Haynes confessed to committing the crime. However, this kind of ‘evidence’ is just hearsay and not enough to convict someone of murder.

Where is Marvin Haynes now?

Marvin Haynes is now a free man and rebuilding his life after spending nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Upon his release, Haynes said the first thing he planned to do was to visit his mother whom he hadn’t seen in 3 years, and who recently had a stroke.

What do you think about what happened to Marvin Haynes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.