Marvin Haynes on 19 years wrongfully convicted and what's next for him

Marvin Haynes walked out of a Stillwater prison on Monday a free man. A judge had vacated his conviction, for which he was serving a life sentence. He received the news on his birthday after fighting nearly 20 years to prove his innocence.

He had been convicted of murder in a 2004 killing of a flower shop owner in Minneapolis despite no physical evidence linking him to the crime. He joined All Things Considered with Tom Crann on Wednesday.

You said before the media as you walked out of Stillwater, ‘I’m so happy,’ has it sunk in?

Absolutely, it has sunk in. I’m just so glad and appreciative to get my life back so people can recognize that I’m innocent and other innocent people that have gone through this. I want to be that inspiration. So I’m just so glad that I can be spreading light on my story farther.

Tell me about your last couple of days, what have they been like?

The last few days has been so amazing. I’ve been able to get my ID, my birth certificate, you know, just get things as being returned back to a normal living so I can get a job. It’s coming so fast, but it’s been amazing. I couldn’t even ask for nothing better.

What was your first meal as a free man?

It was a cheese burger and some fries. I went to Fhima’s, it was amazing. When I say it was like so beautiful. My team of lawyers, my family, my mother, my father — I haven't seen some of my family members in 19 years. So it was amazing for all of us to get together and just enjoy our night together.

What went through your mind the moment you heard you would be released from prison?

I dropped the phone, I was in tears. I mean, it was something that I believed because I knew I was innocent. I knew the truth would overcome all this. But to receive it and know that I’m going home on my birthday, I couldn’t even believe it. Like my 36th birthday was spent in a cell I’ve been there since I was 16 years old. So to know that I will be coming home, and people will know man Marvin Haynes’ innocence, so yeah, it was amazing.

Was there a point in the last few years, where you felt a tipping point like this just may happen?

It was a struggle, first and foremost. It was very hard to go through that. And there were moments that I used to talk to God and just be like ‘God, my heart, I’m innocent, I just pray that you can clear my name.’ I just wanted it to be recognized that I was innocent.

So through this whole process, I knew that one day the truth would come out and I would get justice. I just had no idea when it would be. So when it came, it came so fast. It literally took off in two years. And I’m here now today because I got some people that love me, that are passionate about my case and family that loved me. It was a collective.

Tell me what your sister was doing behind the scenes.

For 19 years, my sister has been relentless in fighting to get justice on my side. But it was a collective of individuals. I will say my sister was very important in this moment of me getting justice.

She was out there going to rallies, she was doing everything you can think of talking to everybody you can think of just telling people like ‘Marvin is innocent, we need to get the support behind him.’ My sister is amazing. I wouldn’t be here without her. So I just want to say my love and my appreciation to her first and foremost.

What kept you going and hopeful?

I got so much inspiration from so many different other individuals. But at that moment, found guilty at 17 years old, you got to understand, I went in there when I was 16. So I was very young, and I didn’t know a lot of things.

I didn’t have information of the legal system, someone being wrongfully convicted. I didn’t even know what the word exoneration meant. I had to educate myself and find out that, okay, I was wrongly convicted.

I literally thought I was the first person that was wrongfully convicted and so when I got found guilty, and was sentenced to life at 17 years old, I just couldn’t believe it. I thought these guys will see that I was innocent, and the justice system failed. So I was definitely upset, but I have matured from that person.

What would you say to others who are in a situation like yours?

Never give up. Never. I don’t care how hard it is, I don’t care if you don’t want to get out of bed the next day, you got to get up, you got to keep going. You got to keep believing. You got to keep praying and stay persistent as well, because that’s what got me here.

I understand you want to continue your work with the Innocence Project, tell us more about what your plans are.

I am appreciative of them for coming to my life and helping me. These will be connections that I will have for the rest of my life. I definitely want to be on the front line and help spread the word about wrongful convictions and try to get other people’s lives back because you got to understand in different spaces that people that was executed were wrongly convicted.

It’s very important that people are knowledgeable that the system has failed people. The system has railroaded people. So I want to definitely get out there and let people know like, look at people’s stories. Don’t be so judgmental, educate yourself about this stuff, man. That’s all.

What’s next for you?

It’s been a struggle. I’ve been out three days or whatever. And, you know, I came back to society with nothing. Unfortunately, sometimes when these things happen, you coming back to a community you’ve been your life has been cooking, and you’re just kicked out. You have no resources, really, you have no money, you know what I mean?

So I’m in the process of getting the job and trying to get on my feet. Right now, I just came from getting my ID, my next step is to give me a job and just, you know, be productive and spread light on other people if they’re wrongly convicted. I’m just gonna be happy to keep it simple. That’s all.