The region's former chief public defender will serve on the advisory board of Minnesota's first Conviction Review Unit, a new partnership between the state attorney general's office and the Great North Innocence Project.
Friedman will be part of a 16-member team that will help review cases for possible wrongful convictions, along with providing ongoing advice and recommendations for best practices related to judicial issues.
"Everyone has a fear, or should have a fear, of people being wrongfully convicted and sent to prison," he told the News Tribune on Friday. "The goal is not to make mistakes. But that's a goal — not an achievement."
The unit was first announced in October with the awarding of a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The unit aims to review and remedy cases in which there is believed to be a strong possibility that a person was wrongfully convicted of a crime as a result of flawed evidence, human error or misconduct.
Dozens of similar groups have been established in other states and local jurisdictions in recent years as an accountability measure, leading to at least 444 exonerations nationwide, according to the attorney general's office. Minnesota will be the fourth state to operate such an effort through its top prosecutor.
“No justice system can be successful without the trust of the public,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. “By collaborating with community activists, national criminal justice experts and prosecutors, we are striving for a more perfect system. I look forward to working with the board members to fulfill the mission of the CRU and thank them for their pursuit of justice.”
From left: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison explains the Duluth lynchings that took place in 1920 and the recent pardoning of Max Mason to Abdulahi Hussein, Tawny Worsley and Kirsten Kelly at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial on Monday, June 15, 2020. (Tyler Schank / tschank@duluthnews.com)
Friedman noted that he is only one of two non-metro representatives on the board, along with the Winona County attorney. The board includes the Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, former Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice Paul Anderson, community activists, academics and a tribal representative, among others.
The board is expected to have its first meeting next week and will begin by establishing protocols for how it will function, along with hiring a director. Friedman said he expects to have a hands-on role in reviewing convictions, though it remains to be seen how cases will be selected by the unit.
"Nobody wants to be part of a mistake," he said. "I regard this as another check from people who don't have a dog in that particular fight."
Friedman, 73, began practicing law in Duluth in 1972 and is the longest-serving chief public defender in state history. He started as a public defender in 1973 and led the 6th Judicial District office from 1986 to 2014.
Friedman is chair of the National Association of Public Defenders Strike Force Committee, which assists public defenders facing political or legal crises, and has taught at the University of Minnesota Duluth since 1975.
Many forms of science and technology that are now common in courtrooms didn't even exist in the criminal justice system when Friedman started his career. He said many old convictions are based largely on identification from a single eyewitness — testimony that may seem powerful to a jury but has proven to be less than reliable.
Friedman said he believes the existence of the independent board will make it easier to ask difficult questions and take a fresh look at old cases that might otherwise remain closed.
"I think it'll be a good thing," he said. "One of the reasons is that it gives people confidence in the system. We have the right people looking at this."
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Duluth's Friedman named to conviction-review team - Duluth News Tribune
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