In the image to the left, Myon Burrell is released from Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Bayport, Minn. Minnesota’s pardon board on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, commuted the sentence of Burrell, a Black man who was sent to prison for life as a teen in a high-profile murder case that raised questions about the integrity of the criminal justice system that put him away. He was arrested Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, and is seen in a mugshot from the Hennepin County Jail. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
A convicted murderer freed from a life sentence after a panel determined that a flawed investigation might have led to his wrongful conviction in the killing of an 11-year-old girl has been charged in Minnesota for allegedly carrying a loaded gun and having drugs in his possession.
Myon Burrell, 37, was arrested by police during a traffic stop in Robbinsdale, in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Police pulled his 2016 white Chevrolet Tahoe over for driving erratically, “going over the lane divider and the fog line” over the posted speed limit, police said in a news release. Inside the SUV, police found a gun, which Burrell was prohibited from carrying, and drugs, police said.
He appeared in court on Friday and was set to appear in court again on Oct. 17. His attorney, Paul Applebaum, denied the allegations.
“As in so many criminal prosecutions, things may not be as they first appear,” he told the Associated Press. “I am particularly interested in the circumstances surrounding the initial traffic stop of Mr. Burrell.”
A criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime outlines the Aug. 29 arrest in Hennepin County. At about 11 a.m. that morning, a Robbinsdale police officer was on routine patrol when he saw a white SUV drift over the road’s center line toward the other lane without signaling. As the vehicle passed, the officer could see in his rearview mirror that the vehicle was straddling the center line, and the officer made a U-turn to catch up with the SUV.
The officer saw the white SUV moving more quickly than other traffic and exceeding the speed limit of 30 mph. The officer also noticed the vehicle’s tires cross the center line again and initiated a traffic stop.
The officer approached the driver’s side of the SUV, and the driver — Burrell — rolled down the window.
“Smoke appeared to billow out of the vehicle when the window was rolled down, and the officer detected a very strong odor of burnt marijuana and observed what appeared to be marijuana remnants on the center console of the SUV,” the complaint said.
The driver’s eyes were red and glossy, and his pupils were dilated, the document said. The officer asked Burrell to exit the vehicle for field sobriety testing.
“After observing some indicia of intoxication during one of the initial field sobriety tests, the officer advised he was going to look in the car for marijuana after seeing the smoke and the remnants on the console, and Defendant told him he could not look in his vehicle,” the complaint said.
When the officer told Burrell to have a seat in his squad car, Burrell began walking away.
When the officer took him by the arm to sit in his squad car, Burrell pulled away and began “to actively resist the officer,” the document said.
“After more efforts to resist, defendant was eventually placed in handcuffs and secured in the officer’s squad car,” the complaint said.
Police found a Glock 17 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine in the center console and marijuana remnants. In a grey backpack in the back seat, officers found two bags of suspected marijuana, a baggie containing 21 clear capsules with a crystal-like powder, another baggie containing 16 suspected ecstasy pills, small plastic baggies and a digital scale.
Burrell was arrested when he was 16 for killing Tyesha Edwards. At around 3 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2002, Tyesha was with her younger sister doing homework and watching TV inside her home when a bullet struck her in the chest. She died at a hospital.
A year-long investigation by the Associated Press and American Public Media Reports in 2020 uncovered serious flaws in the investigation. The reporting led to a review of his case and the commutation of his sentence to 20 years.
He served 18 years and was released on Dec. 15, 2020.
Amy Klobuchar, now Minnesota’s senior U.S. senator, was the Hennepin County Attorney when he was initially charged and convicted. She used the case in her unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign as an example of her tough-on-crime policies, the AP reported.
She later pushed for a re-examining of the case by an independent panel, which found a “failure to investigate that illustrates tunnel vision.” Investigators also ignored or downplayed evidence that could have helped exonerate him, the AP reported. His pardon request was denied, the AP reported.
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