Deshaun Hill killing: Prosecutors fight for critical evidence in upcoming retrial

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Hennepin County prosecutors are fighting to present a key police interview to jurors at the upcoming retrial of Cody Fohrenkam, the man whose conviction was overturned in the murder of Minneapolis North High School standout student-athlete Deshaun Hill, Jr.

Deshaun Hill Jr. murder trial

The backstory:

Hill, a standout student-athlete at Minneapolis North High School, was shot and killed by a lone gunman on Feb. 9, 2022. Neighborhood surveillance video captured Hill, in a walking boot from a prior injury, brush past the shooter several blocks from the North High campus in the middle of the day. 

At the time, authorities said the two were close enough to "possibly brush shoulders." The shooter then appeared to pause, turn and fire three shots before running away. Fohrenkam was subsequently arrested, charged, and convicted of Hill’s murder. A judge called Forhenkam's actions "senseless" before sentencing him to 38.5 years in prison.

But last year, the Minnesota Court of Appeals tossed out Fohrenkam’s conviction after finding his constitutional rights were violated at trial in part because of the prosecution’s use of a videotaped police interview conducted by detectives in the days following the slaying. 

The Court of Appeals found Fohrenkam was illegally detained on a separate matter by authorities in Carlton County, who continued to hold him until Minneapolis investigators could arrive and question him about the deadly shooting. The jury watched the full 19-minute interrogation during the trial before taking less than an hour to convict.

The court ruled in part, "the state has failed to satisfy its burden of showing that Fohrenkam’s continued detention was lawful. And because Fohrenkam made his incriminating statements during this period of continued detention—which the state never justified by presenting evidence explaining the basis for such conduct—Fohrenkam’s statements must be suppressed as the product of an unlawful seizure."

Once his statements were deemed inadmissible, the Court of Appeals found the now 33-year-old was entitled to a new trial.

Fighting for evidence in upcoming retrial

What's next:

Despite the Court of Appeals ruling, lead prosecutor Dan Allard still wants to use the videotaped interrogation at Fohrenkam’s upcoming retrial on the same murder charges. Allard believes the state can establish Fohrenkam was legally held in custody leading up to his MPD interview and has provided the court with a sworn affidavit from one of the detectives who questioned Fohrenkam in Carlton County.

Fohrenkam’s legal team though, argues that the police interview should not be allowed to be shown to a second jury and, so far, Hennepin County District Court Judge Julie Allyn has agreed.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is now asking the Court of Appeals to step in once again to prompt Judge Allyn to reconsider her rulings, writing in part that the "post-Miranda interview has a critical impact on the State’s ability to prosecute (Fohrenkam) for murder."

Prosecutors add the video is needed at trial to impeach the defendant as the interview captures Fohrenkam changing his story and alibi while being questioned. The state also wants to use the video to identify Fohrenkam as the shooter seen on neighborhood surveillance camera footage. They wrote in their most recent appeal that if the police interview is kept out at trial, it "significantly reduces the likelihood of a successful prosecution."

Fohrenkam’s retrial is currently scheduled to get underway on April 28. It is unclear when the higher court will rule on Hennepin County’s appeal.