A man convicted of fatally shooting a robber during a drug deal outside an Eagan hotel four years ago will get a new chance to prove his actions were in self-defense.

In an opinion filed Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed a Minnesota Court of Appeals decision and remanded the case against Robert Lee Baker III back to Dakota County District Court, concluding that jurors should have heard instructions on self-defense and defense of others.

Robert Lee Baker III (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Corrections)

A Dakota County jury in April 2022 found Baker, then 30 of Eagan, guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Maurice Antonio Anderson, 29, of Minneapolis at the Sonesta Suites hotel on Nov. 9, 2020. Baker fired 16 shots, 11 of which hit Anderson.

Judge Michael Mayer handed down a 36½-year sentence in June 2022.

Baker did not testify at his trial, so the justices considered testimony that was established from three statements he made to police following his arrest, according to Wednesday’s opinion.

Baker said two men with guns got into his girlfriend’s car — he was in the front passenger seat — and made her drive to the hotel. Once parked, the men robbed them of cash, his wallet and his girlfriend’s purse. The men got out and ran.

Baker said he jumped out of the car with his gun, chased after the men and demanded they give back what they stole. He said he started shooting after the men pointed their guns at him, and that he stopped firing when one fell to the ground.

At trial, before closing arguments, Baker’s attorney moved for a jury instruction on self-defense and defense of others, which the prosecution opposed. Although Judge Mayer had allowed the defense to introduce those defenses during opening arguments, he ruled, at the close of evidence, that he would not be instructing the jury on self-defense and defense of others.

Robbery ‘ongoing’?

Mayer found that the robbery was over and that Baker “re-engaged” by exiting the car with a gun. Mayer said the defense failed to establish that Baker was not the initial aggressor because he re-engaged in contact with the victim. The defense also failed to establish that Baker did not have a reasonable means to retreat, according to Mayer.

The court of appeals affirmed, but it determined the elements of self-defense relied on by the district court — aggression and retreat — were “complex and somewhat muddled under the facts of this case.” Ultimately, the court of appeals did not decide the issues of aggression or retreat but instead affirmed because it concluded that Baker did not, as a matter of law, use a reasonable amount of force.

The Supreme Court found that, when viewed in a light most favorable to Baker, it is “reasonable to infer that the robbery was ongoing” when Baker exited the car and demanded his belongings back.

“Based on the specific evidence presented in this case, we conclude that Baker satisfied his burden by presenting sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that he was not the initial aggressor,” Chief Justice Natalie Hudson wrote in the opinion.

The justices also concluded that Baker presented sufficient evidence from which a jury could reasonably conclude that Baker, with guns pointed at him, did not have a reasonable opportunity to retreat.

It was a “close call” on whether Baker used a reasonable degree of force, Hudson wrote. She noted evidence was presented at trial that the shots fired could have occurred in approximately five seconds, and also that Baker said he stopped shooting as soon as Anderson fell to the ground.

“We acknowledge that a reasonable jury could conclude that the degree of force used was not reasonable,” Hudson wrote. “But we cannot go so far as to say that ‘no reasonable juror could conclude that his use of force to defend himself was reasonable.’ … The reasonableness of the degree of force used in a particular situation is a quintessential question for a jury.”

Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena said Wednesday in an emailed statement she was aware of the the Supreme Court’s decision, adding: “Unless the case resolves, it’s my intent to try the case again.”

State public defender Steven Russett, who represented Baker in the appeal, did not return a message Wednesday for comment on the decision.

Second robber charged in 2022

The second assailant was later identified as Jwan Orlando Johnson, who was Anderson’s 45-year-old uncle.

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An April 2022 complaint against Johnson says Baker’s girlfriend told Eagan police that she and Baker went to the hotel to sell Percocet pills to a woman. Anderson and Johnson got into the car and made off with approximately $3,000 in cash during the robbery, she told police. Texts recovered by police showed Johnson set up the robbery.

Johnson, of St. Paul, admitted to a charge of receiving stolen property after reaching a plea deal with the prosecution in July 2022; a first-degree aggravated robbery charge against him was dismissed.

Dakota County District Judge Shawn Moynihan in October 2022 stayed a nearly two-year prison sentence in favor of five years of probation. In departing from state sentencing guidelines, Moynihan cited Johnson’s amenability to probation and chemical dependency treatment, and his remorse over the killing.

Court records show Johnson violated terms of probation in June and he was sentenced a month later to 20 days in the county jail.