Klobuchar defends role in prosecution of black teenager in stray-bullet murder case
Klobuchar defends role in prosecution of black teenager in stray-bullet murder case
by Phillip M. Bailey, USATNetwork 1 hr ago
BETTENDORF, Ia. — Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar on Saturday defended her role in the prosecution of a black teenager in a case the Associated Press has reported was riddled with flaws.
"All I know is if there's evidence that must come forward, the court has to look at it immediately," she told reporters.
Klobuchar, a U.S. senator from Minnesota, has previously touted the 2002 conviction of Myon Burrell in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old girl as an example of her being an aggressive prosecutor who is tough on crime.
The AP, however, dug through thousands of pages of records and found the case leaned heavily on a teen rival of Burrell's and other jailhouse snitches who gave conflicting accounts when identifying the shooter.
It quoted one of Burrell's co-defendants who confessed to being the gunman and said Burrell was not present when the crime was committed.
A coalition of civil rights groups, including the Minneapolis NAACP and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, have called on Klobuchar to drop out of the presidential contest for "her role in sending an innocent black teenager to prison for life."
READ MORE: Klobuchar defends role in prosecution of black teenager in stray-bullet murder case https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2...
by Phillip M. Bailey, USATNetwork 1 hr ago
BETTENDORF, Ia. — Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar on Saturday defended her role in the prosecution of a black teenager in a case the Associated Press has reported was riddled with flaws.
"All I know is if there's evidence that must come forward, the court has to look at it immediately," she told reporters.
Klobuchar, a U.S. senator from Minnesota, has previously touted the 2002 conviction of Myon Burrell in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old girl as an example of her being an aggressive prosecutor who is tough on crime.
The AP, however, dug through thousands of pages of records and found the case leaned heavily on a teen rival of Burrell's and other jailhouse snitches who gave conflicting accounts when identifying the shooter.
It quoted one of Burrell's co-defendants who confessed to being the gunman and said Burrell was not present when the crime was committed.
A coalition of civil rights groups, including the Minneapolis NAACP and Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, have called on Klobuchar to drop out of the presidential contest for "her role in sending an innocent black teenager to prison for life."
READ MORE: Klobuchar defends role in prosecution of black teenager in stray-bullet murder case https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2...
