Aug. 23: Fort hearing delayed; defense witnesses missing

He was convicted of killing an 11-year-old boy, but his lawyer filed for a new trial, claiming Fort's cousin confessed to the crime. Prosecutors have joined the search.

By Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune

Last update: September 14, 2007 - 1:26 PM

A hearing into whether Eugene Fort deserves a new trial in the 1990 murder of Marcus Potts was delayed until Sept. 11 because defense witnesses cannot be found, lawyers said Thursday.

Fort was convicted in late May of killing Potts, but his lawyer Michael Colich filed for a new trial, claiming that as the trial was concluding, Fort's cousin had confessed his guilt in the crime to other inmates at Lino Lakes Correctional Facility, where he resides.

The 11-year-old Potts was stabbed at least 44 times when he was home alone one night and interrupted an intruder in his family's home in north Minneapolis. Prosecutors said Fort broke into the house looking for money to buy drugs while Potts' mother was at work. Fort was convicted of first-degree murder and is likely to be sentenced to life.

In a request for a new trial, the defense claimed several inmates heard Fort's cousin confess to inmate Anthony Lee. Colich declined to say which witnesses he is looking for, but the Hennepin County attorney's office is now going to help find them. "We believe it is important to get these people on the record," assistant Hennepin County Attorney Judy Johnston said.

Colich acknowledged that the delay offers "no assurance" the witnesses will be found. The brief court hearing came after attorneys met for an hour with the judge while the anxious families of both Potts and Fort waited in the courtroom and the hall.

Hennepin County District Judge Jay Quam said he did not anticipate granting another delay beyond Sept. 11.

While the jury was deliberating the case in May, Lee called Colich's office and said the cousin admitted to having "shot a little boy," according to the prosecutor's brief opposing a new trial.

The prosecutors noted that Potts was stabbed, not shot. They also noted that Lee is the son of Black Peace Stone Nation gang leader Jeff Fort, an infamous gangster from Chicago now in the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colo., according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website. Fort is also Eugene Fort's uncle.

In a recorded phone call from jail that Lee made to his sister, he told her to let the family know "whatever they need, I got 'em. Now listen to what I'm saying: I got whatever they need."

Johnston wrote, "The court now has evidence of a specific family relationship of Anthony Lee to the defendant along with his promise to give the family whatever they need in this case."

She said that the court has evidence Lee was trying to script statements by other inmates and that Lee and Fort were in a holding cell together while the trial was going on and had a chance to discuss the case.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

Rochelle Olson • raolson@startribune.com

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