Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty creates Conviction Integrity Unit
7/1/2024
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has formed the county’s first-ever Conviction Integrity Unit as another step toward ensuring justice, accountability, and transparency.
The purpose of the CIU is to review cases to rectify wrongful convictions and identify mistakes in past prosecutions in Hennepin County so that the HCAO, alongside its justice partners, can prevent such issues from happening in the future.
HCAO Explains: Conviction Integrity Unit
“Prosecutors provide a vital public service. They work hard every day to ensure that those who commit acts of violence and victimize community members face accountability for their actions,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. “No prosecutor here wants to see someone convicted for a crime they did not commit, the actual perpetrator free to do more harm, or victims left with questions. I’m honored to establish the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office’s first Conviction Integrity Unit to ensure that when mistakes are made, they will be remedied, and justice will be done.”
Find more information on the Hennepin County Attorney's Office Conviction Integrity Unit.
The HCAO is happy to announce that Andrew Markquart will head the unit. As managing attorney of the Great North Innocence Project, Markquart investigated cases of wrongful convictions and represented individuals in state and federal court after they were convicted. Markquart represented Marvin Haynes, who was exonerated with the agreement of HCAO in December 2023. Markquart also led the Innocence Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School and has taught there and at other law schools about wrongful convictions and death penalty law.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in this exciting new endeavor that rightly places justice as the highest value, even when that means admitting past mistakes,” said Andrew Markquart, who will lead the CIU. “I am confident that with this work, we can make a profound difference in the lives of individuals that our system has failed in the past and help create a more transparent and just Hennepin County.”
Establishing an CIU has been a commitment of Moriarty from the beginning of her administration. In recent years, CIUs have become increasingly common in large urban counties and have come to play an important role in exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals. All but two of the 32 U.S. counties with more people than Hennepin County have some form of a CIU. Around 40% of U.S. exonerations in the past decade have involved a CIU.
The Minnesota Attorney General has a Conviction Review Unit that currently reviews cases statewide, including from Hennepin County. Forming a local unit to review Hennepin County cases frees the CRU to focus on the rest of the state. It also lets the HCAO work directly with victims and their families to guide them transparently and compassionately through this process.
“Fair trials are the bedrock of the legal system. Without them, proper convictions may be overturned, innocent people can be convicted, and people who commit crimes can avoid necessary accountability,” said HCAO Division of Professional Standards Director Clare Diegel. “With this new Conviction Integrity Unit, we hope to take advantage of the unique ability that a prosecutor's office has to identify and remedy wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice. This allows us to learn from the past, improve our system going forward, and promote public confidence in the vital work of this office.”
The CIU is part of the larger Division of Professional Standards, launched by Moriarty in May 2023 to institute reforms that will make the criminal legal system work better for all involved, including victims and defendants. In its first year, among other things, the division built a process to identify candidates for prosecutor-initiated sentence adjustments; established a training team; reformed the office’s Brady/Giglio policy to guard against wrongful convictions and ensure fair trials; expanded the capacity and reach of the office’s prosecutor-led expungement program and partnered with the HCAO’s Community Affairs Division to hold two community expungement clinics; and created a model policy to certify U/T Visas to encourage immigrant communities to report crime.
The CIU will eventually include another lawyer, an investigator, and a paralegal. As soon as applications for case review open up, the HCAO will publicize that information and put the process on our website: www.hennepinattorney.org.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty serves as chief executive of Minnesota’s largest public law office. Moriarty manages a staff of more than 500 people, setting policies and priorities for prosecuting criminal cases, overseeing child protection and child support cases, and providing legal advice and representation to county government. The office is dedicated to protecting public safety and creating a more just and equitable system through transparency and accountability.
Biography for Andrew Markquart
Andrew Markquart joins the Hennepin County Attorney’s from the Great North Innocence Project (GNIP), where he was a managing attorney. At the Innocence Project, he investigated cases of wrongful convictions and represented individuals in connection with post-conviction litigation in state and federal court. He led the Innocence Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School and has taught there and at other law schools about wrongful convictions and death penalty law.
Andrew also advocated in Minnesota and South Dakota for public policies directed toward preventing and remedying wrongful convictions. With GNIP, he successfully advocated in Minnesota for passage of a bill modifying the post-conviction statute of limitations to allow for more claims based on newly discovered evidence and a bill banning the use of certain deceptive techniques in the interrogation of minors.
Prior to working at GNIP, Andrew worked as a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York where he did extensive pro bono work on criminal and immigration matters.
As a student at Columbia Law School, Andrew co-authored with Professor James Liebman and others an extended law review piece examining the wrongful conviction and execution of Carlos DeLuna that was subsequently released in book form as The Wrong Carlos (2014). The book formed the basis for the 2021 documentary The Phantom.