Subcommittee approves $5.1 million in exoneration settlements for three men

A joint House and Senate subcommittee on claims approved three exoneration settlements totaling about $5.1 million on April 30, 2025.

The panel approved $250,000 for James Jamal Davis, $350,000 for Clayton Douglas Groves and $4.5 million for Marvin Haynes after counsel summarized the bases for each claim and attorneys for the claimants and the state reached stipulated settlements. The approvals were taken by voice vote with members answering “Aye.”

Jayson Keenly, deputy reviser and counsel for the subcommittee, summarized procedural history for each matter and the statutory route for seeking compensation under Minnesota law. For Davis, Keenly said the claimant’s conviction was vacated following appellate rulings and a district court ultimately granted a petition for exoneration; the parties asked the panel to approve a settlement totaling $250,000 ($150,000 statutory damages; $100,000 for attorneys’ fees).

Peter Old, the attorney who represented Davis in post‑conviction proceedings, told the subcommittee the path to exoneration had been lengthy and urged the committee to approve the payment: “It is a small measure of justice for a person who spent well over three years in state prison for a crime he did not commit,” he said.

For Clayton Groves, the subcommittee record shows Groves’s convictions were vacated after the Court of Appeals reversed a trial court ruling that had excluded evidence. Christopher Sailors, who handled the post‑conviction work, described how an in‑camera review of medical and other records produced grounds for a new trial and, ultimately, an acquittal. The proposed settlement totaled $350,000, of which $15,000 was listed for private counsel’s fees; the panel approved the motion to accept the settlement.

The panel also approved a $4.5 million settlement for Marvin Haynes, whose 2005 murder conviction was vacated after new evidence and concern about an unduly suggestive eyewitness identification. The record shows Haynes served roughly 19 years and nine months before his convictions were vacated; counsel informed the subcommittee that the parties had moved for summary disposition of the settlement and recommended payment.

Keenly noted each exoneration petition was filed with the Minnesota Supreme Court and that compensation panels had been appointed consistent with Minnesota Statutes governing post‑conviction compensation. Committee members did not request recorded roll‑call tallies; approvals were made by voice vote. The subcommittee moved on to injury and property claims after approving the three exoneration settlements.