MINNEAPOLIS — Myon Burrell, the Minnesota man freed from a life sentence in 2020 following a much-publicized case, was found guilty by a Hennepin County judge in a case involving gun and drug possession.
According to court documents, Burrell was subsequently pulled over for a traffic stop in August of 2023 when Robbinsdale police found a loaded handgun and drugs in his car.
Last month, Burrell appeared in Hennepin County District Court, where his attorneys and Hennepin County prosecutors agreed to a rare proceeding known as a "stipulated evidence trial." Rather than go to a jury trial, both prosecutors and the defense submitted their evidence — in this case, mostly police reports and videos — to Judge Mark Kappelhoff, who ruled Burrell guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance in the fifth-degree.
The case will now go straight to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which will decide whether the traffic stop that led to Burrell's arrest was legal. If the court rules the stop was unconstitutional, all charges against Burrell would be dropped.
Burrell's defense team argued that the search of his vehicle without a warrant was unconstitutional, pointing to a recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision in which justices ruled the smell of marijuana alone does not justify a search. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill ruled against a motion to suppress the discovery of a gun and drugs in Burrell's car in May of this year, writing, "There was reasonable and articulable suspicion to support the initial stop... of drug use and driving under the influence to support an expansion of the stop to determine if Defendant was able to drive safely."
Judge Cahill added that the search was supported by probable cause.
Burrell was just 16 years old in 2002 when he was convicted of the murder of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards in south Minneapolis. He was in prison in 2020 when a movement to free Burrell was fueled by an Associated Press article that raised questions about the police investigation in his case and subsequent prosecutions.
Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, influenced by a report penned by a group of six attorneys from around the country, decided to commute Burrell’s life sentence and immediately release him from prison on the basis he was only 16 years old when he allegedly committed his crime.