The Minnesota Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of the man who shot and killed an innocent bystander outside Block E on March 31, 2006.
The court rejected arguments from Derrick Holliday for the dismissal of his first-degree murder conviction in the death of Alan Reitter of Minnetonka.
In his petition, Holliday argued the evidence of premeditation was insufficient for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder convictions. The court disagreed. The court also determined that the prior out-of-court statements of a witness were properly admitted at trial.
Holliday, of Minneapolis, was chasing a man he had fought with in the Block E movie theater about 11:30 p.m. when he fired a gun. The intended target was Ashimiyu Alowonle.
Reitter, a mortgage underwriter, was shot as he walked with his fiancée and friends in a parking lot on North 6th Street near the popular downtown entertainment district. He died from a bullet to the head.
Holliday was sentenced to life.
ROCHELLE OLSON
