Hennepin County’s move to reduce a murder sentence draws backlash
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The two lawyers vying to replace Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty say she is misusing a new law that allows prosecutors to request sentence reductions in special cases.
The candidates, Anders Folk, former acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, and DFL state Rep. Cedrick Frazier of New Hope, both condemned the use of the new law in this case. Frazier’s objection comes despite the fact that he co-sponsored the law while serving in the Minnesota House.
Earlier this year, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office requested to reduce Kemen Taylor II’s life sentence for his role in the murder of a 13-year-old boy and attempted murder of two other teenagers in 2011.
In its petition, the county argued Taylor was punished at trial for not accepting a plea deal and that his sentence did not accurately represent his culpability in the crime. The county also said he is no longer a danger to the public.
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After the boy’s father strongly objected to the county’s move, both candidates to be the next Hennepin County attorney said the request should be denied by a judge.
New law opens door to sentence reductions
For the last two years, Hennepin County has had new tools to review convictions and decide whether justice was served.
In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature approved a new law that allows prosecutors to request sentence reductions if there are “substantial and compelling reasons” to do so.
The law does not allow prosecutors to reduce restitution to victims. Hennepin County began accepting prosecutor-initiated sentence adjustment, or PISA, applications in early 2024.
In the fall of 2024, the county’s conviction integrity unit also began accepting applications from incarcerated people to have their cases reviewed. That unit’s mission is to investigate plausible claims “that an innocent person was convicted or some other serious miscarriage of justice occurred.”
Hundreds of incarcerated people have requested Hennepin County take a second look at their case through these new systems, but only a handful have won relief.
According to the county, around 250 people have applied for the conviction integrity unit to review their case and more than 400 people have applied for sentence adjustments. The county has recommended relief in fewer than ten cases overall — two of which were exonerations.
Taylor applied to have his case reviewed by the conviction integrity unit. After his case was reevaluated, the county determined he was eligible for a sentence reduction and said under current Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty the case would have been prosecuted differently. Taylor was prosecuted during the tenure of Moriarty’s predecessor, Mike Freeman.
Andrew Markquart wrote in a petition on behalf of the county that since the time of Taylor’s trial, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has “taken a more cautious approach to indictments on first-degree premeditated murder charges because such charges carry a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of release.”
Markquart was hired by Moriarty to lead the county’s conviction integrity unit.
“The facts in this case do not satisfy the current standard,” Markquart added.
Taylor’s crime
In August 2011, Taylor, who was 25 at the time, was driving two teens around in rival gang territory in north Minneapolis after Taylor’s brother had been recently shot in the arm.
After seeing someone they thought was a rival, Derrick Catchings, 15, and Donquarius Copeland, 16, got out of Taylor’s van and shot at three boys on bikes. Ray’Jon Gomez was killed in the gunfire and another boy was injured.
After the shooting, Taylor drove the two shooters away from the scene.
Catchings and Copeland eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and each received 34 years in prison with a chance of probation. However, Catchings died in prison.
Meanwhile, Taylor rejected a plea deal that could have resulted in him gaining supervised release after 13 years. Instead, he went to court where he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The petition requests a modified sentence for Taylor of 312 months, higher than the original plea deal but significantly shorter than life.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Moriarty’s office said that if a 13-year sentence, which was offered in the deal, was appropriate to protect the public and hold Taylor accountable, then “life without parole is by definition a disparity requiring correction. Our petition seeks a 26-year sentence.”
Gomez’s father, Kevin Funchie, told the Star Tribune he felt the county’s petition was “sickening” and said his son’s murder being brought up again in court has been devastating for him and others in his family.
After the Star Tribune published Funchie’s comments, both candidates running to replace Moriarty as Hennepin County attorney condemned the county’s move. However both said they support the existence of the conviction integrity unit.
"As a former member of the Public Safety Committee in the Legislature that passed the Prosecutor-Initiated Sentence Adjustment (PISA) legislation, this is not the way this statute was intended to be used,” Frazier, the DFL-endorsee, said in a statement.
“As a survivor of gun violence myself, I believe presenting cases like this can retraumatize victims and does not serve the best interest of public safety,” Frazier said.
Anders Folk, former acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota and Frazier’s opponent, said in a statement that the county’s petition was an example of “when ideology runs roughshod over justice.”
Folk added that many factors, including Taylor’s age and Taylor’s attempts to deny his guilt, contributed to his long sentence.
“Accountability matters,” Folk said.
Judge Shereen Askalani took the case under advisement earlier this month and will make the final decision to approve or deny the county’s petition.
