Burrell opts for “fixed evidence” in weapons and drug trial

MINNEAPOLIS – Myon Burrell and his defense team are hoping a rarely used court procedure will result in a gun and drug possession case being dismissed.

Burrell – who was released from prison in 2020 after serving 18 years of a life sentence for murder – was stopped during a traffic stop in 2023 when Robbinsdale police found a loaded handgun and drugs in his car. If convicted, possession of a handgun as a felon would carry a mandatory five-year prison sentence.

On Monday, Burell appeared in Hennepin County District Court, where his attorneys and Hennepin County prosecutors agreed to a rare procedure known as a “set evidence procedure.” Instead of conducting a jury trial, both prosecutors and the defense will present their evidence – in this case, mostly police reports and videos – to Judge Mark Kappelhoff, who will issue a decision on Burell's guilt or innocence within 30 days.

If Burrell is found guilty, which both sides likely admit based on the evidence against him, the case will go directly to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which will decide whether the traffic stop that led to Burrell's arrest was lawful. If the court rules that the stop was unconstitutional, all charges against Burrell will be dropped.

Burrell's defense attorneys argued that searching his vehicle without a warrant was unconstitutional. They pointed to a recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision in which justices ruled that the smell of marijuana alone does not justify a search. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill denied a motion to suppress the discovery of a gun and drugs in Burrell's car in May of this year, writing, “There was a reasonable and articulated suspicion that justified the initial stop… of drug use and driving under the influence of alcohol to justify an extension of the stop to determine whether the defendant was capable of driving safely.”

Judge Cahill added that there was sufficient suspicion to warrant the search.

If Judge Kappelhoff finds Burrell guilty of the weapons and drug charges, he will sentence the defendant and then decide whether Burrell will go to prison or remain free pending his appeal.

Myon Burrell was just 16 years old in 2002 when he was convicted of murdering 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards in south Minneapolis. He was in prison in 2020 when a movement to free Burrell was fueled by an Associated Press article that raised questions about the police investigation into his case and the subsequent prosecutions.

Influenced by a report from a group of six lawyers from across the country, Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison decided to commute Burrell's life sentence to probation and release him immediately from prison on the grounds that he was only 16 years old at the time of the alleged crime.