In 2004, Randy Sherer, 55, was shot and killed by a robber at his family’s flower shop in north Minneapolis. Police found no physical evidence of the killer, but a witness, Sherer’s sister, Cynthia McDermid, identified Haynes only after being shown a two-year-old photograph of him with his hair cut short.

McDermid had previously described the killer as a thin black man, nearly 6 feet tall and 180 pounds with close-cropped hair. At the time, Haynes was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed 130 pounds and had a long afro.

last decemberHaynes signed an agreement with Hennepin County Judge William Koch and the Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office, saying he was convicted based on a flawed investigation, overturning the conviction.