Supreme Court: Judge can stay on case in the killing of Tyesha Edwards

Hennepin County District Judge Charles Porter Jr. will singlehandedly render a verdict in the retrial of the man convicted in 2003 of killing 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The girl was fatally wounded in 2002 by a stray bullet as she did her school work at home in south Minneapolis.

Myon Burrell, 16 at the time the girl was shot, was convicted in the case, but his conviction was set aside in 2005 by the Supreme Court, which ruled his statement to police inadmissible. Now 21, he remains in jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

In its decision Thursday, the court unanimously rejected arguments from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who sought to have Porter removed from the case. Freeman, who personally argued the case, said the judge had expressed an opinion that the state could not prove the case and should dismiss it. The statement, however, is disputed and a transcript doesn't exist.

Just before the retrial was to begin last year, Burrell's lawyer, Tracy Eichhorn-Hicks, asked for a bench trial, meaning Porter -- not a jury -- would decide the case. Assistant County Attorney Mike Furnstahl objected, and Freeman appealed the decision unsuccessfully to Chief Hennepin County Judge Lucy Wieland and the state Court of Appeals. After Thursday's ruling, Freeman said he's disappointed but will "move forward to try the case."

Eichhorn-Hicks said he expects the retrial to begin soon.

"I think it's the right decision, and we're real eager to go ahead. My guy's been in jail for five years for something he didn't do," Eichhorn-Hicks said.

The court said "nothing in the record suggests that the judge expressed an opinion about the state's ability to prove the underlying crimes. The judge's comments constituted a valid observation based on the history of the case and the state's own comments, not prejudgment on the merits of the underlying charges."

The court also said Porter's "comments created no reasonable question as to his impartiality." Porter, who was not the judge in Burrell's first trial, has insisted he could try the case impartially.

During oral arguments before the Supreme Court in September, Freeman said, "Justice is not a result, but it is also a process the public can see." He added, there is "nothing fair or appearing to be fair" in Porter's handling the retrial of Burrell's case.

In his arguments, Eichhorn-Hicks said the judge's comments were narrowly focused and regarded dropping a charge that the crime was done "for the benefit of a gang."

Tyesha's death by a stray bullet horrified the city and quickly came to symbolize random gang violence.