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Judge allows grand jury testimony review
A Ramsey County District Court judge will allow attorneys for a convicted murderer to review secret grand jury transcripts as part of a review of cases involving an embattled former medical examiner.
RAMSEY CO., Minn. (FOX 9) - A Ramsey County District Court judge will allow attorneys for a convicted murderer to review secret grand jury transcripts as part of a review of cases involving an embattled former medical examiner.
Judge OKs release of secret grand jury transcripts
What we know:
In July, a Ramsey County District Court judge signed an order allowing attorneys for Michael Sontoya to review secret grand jury testimony from McGee and other staffers.
According to a court filing, the Great North Innocence Project, which represents Sontoya and is helping prosecutors review seven homicide cases involving McGee’s testimony, will review the transcripts and cross-reference them with what he said at the trial.
The backstory:
In May 2009, Sontoya, now 48, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for sexually assaulting and murdering his then-girlfriend, Gabriela Romo, 31, in St. Paul in September 2008. McGee performed the autopsy on Romo, finding that she bled to death from a 14-inch laceration that stretched from her pelvis to her abdomen.
Sontoya lost his initial appeal in 2010 after a judge found that evidence of his guilt was "overwhelming." In 2023, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision to deny his post-conviction relief petition.
Husband maintains innocence
What they're saying:
"He also just wants closure. This has been an extremely emotional roller coaster. His community was ruined, his reputation ruined. And 17 years come this month," said Isabella Sontoya, who married Sontoya in 2022. "The people that know that they have innocence and are innocent – they will keep fighting, and they’ll keep vocalizing their innocence until their freedom and even after they are free...."
The other side:
Both the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office and the Great North Innocence Project declined to comment.