James Andrew Works sentenced to 390 months in prison after conviction in first jury trial from City of Minneapolis Sexual Assault Kit Initiative

James Andrew Works was sentenced to 390 total months in prison today after the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office secured his conviction in the first trial to come from the City of Minneapolis Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), a multi disciplinary effort to solve old sexual assault cases. The initiative is a joint partnership of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, Minneapolis Police Department, Sexual Violence Center, and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that was launched in 2020 to test previously untested sexual assault kits from the Minneapolis Police Department. Works was convicted by a jury of all charges against him after a two week trial in March. The court followed the state's recommendation for consecutive sentencing on the four counts of conviction.

“People who commit acts of sexual violence should be on notice that this conduct will not be tolerated in Hennepin County and we will work tirelessly until we achieve justice for victims,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “The courageous victim survivors in this case had to live for too long knowing the person responsible for their pain had not been held accountable. I am hopeful the partnership that led to this conviction will lead to more people responsible for sexual violence being held accountable.”

“We appreciate the City of Minneapolis SAKI agencies’ partnership in helping to ensure that everything possible is done to assist victim survivors in obtaining justice,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said.

“SVC is a proud partner of the SAKI project,” Sexual Violence Center Executive Director Kenosha Davenport said. “It is days like this, seeing victims and survivors get their opportunity for justice. We are committed to ensuring that justice is no longer denied to victims of sexual assault. In that effort, we are supporting HF2034/SF2019 to ensure that each kit, which represents a victim is processed in a timely manner, in line with the standards set by other states across our nation. At SVC, we believe justice delayed is justice denied.”

“Today is indicative of a strong partnership that’s enhanced our ability to bring justice in sexual assaults cases," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said. "Further, this initiative strengthens prosecutions and removes dangerous offenders from our streets. I look forward to continuing to work with our County Attorney, the BCA, and sexual assault victims’ advocates to ensure that we can more quickly bring justice to victims of these heinous crimes.”

To date, four cases have been charged due to the work of the kit initiative. After a two week trial, a jury convicted Works on both counts of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and both counts of Kidnapping.

The city of Minneapolis received federal SAKI funding in the amount of $2,000,000 to establish a multidisciplinary working group in partnership with the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. The partnership’s goal is to address challenges associated with the previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits, establish systematic changes in practices and protocols, complete forensic testing of the kits, conduct thorough investigations, and provide support and assistance to victims.

SAKI is one part of a broader effort by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to focus on sexual assault cases by partnering closely with the Minneapolis Police Department and other law enforcement agencies throughout Hennepin County to effectively solve and prosecute these cases. The effort includes a Hennepin County prosecutor embedded within the sex crimes unit of the Minneapolis Police Department to help develop evidence and begin to build strong cases for prosecution as early in the process as possible.

Additionally, a former head of MPD’s sex crimes unit is now a full time SAKI investigator with the county attorney’s office focusing on strengthening sexual assault cases after they charged. The office has also had a prosecutor dedicated to working closely with suburban police departments on training and best practices related to developing strong cases for prosecution.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has also prioritized victim advocacy in its work on these cases. The efforts have included advocates specifically assigned to working with victims on SAKI cases as well as supporting the Minneapolis Police Department’s use of an embedded victim advocate in the Sex Crimes Unit to provide victims support from the moment they make a report.

The office has also supported three key legislative efforts that continue to be part of end-of-session discussions at the Capitol:

HF 1437/SF 1475 to increase funding for crime victim services – this funding would help all crime victims, including survivors of sexual assault.
HF1279/SF1249 which would require the state to pay for the cost of medical examinations for criminal sexual conduct victims and prevent victims from being wrongly billed for those exams.
Efforts to establish a time limit for how long it can take to test sexual assault exam kits and provide sufficient funding to make it possible.