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

In an opinion filed Wednesday, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed a decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals and sent 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 to others.

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 November 9, 2020. Baker fired 16 shots, 11 of which struck Anderson.

Judge Michael Mayer he handed down a sentence of 36 and a half years in June 2022.

Baker did not testify at his trial, so the judges 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 stole their girlfriend’s money, wallet and purse. The men got out and ran.

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

At trial, before closing arguments, Baker’s attorney requested a jury instruction on self-defense and defense of others, to which the prosecution objected. Although Judge Mayer allowed the defense to introduce these defenses during opening arguments, he ruled at the close of the trial that he would not instruct the jury on self-defense and the defense of others.

Robbery “in progress”?

Mayer found that the robbery was over and that Baker had “reengaged” by getting out of the car with a gun. Mayer said the defense failed to establish that Baker was not the original aggressor because he re-engaged in contact with the victim. The defense also failed to establish that Baker had no reasonable means to withdraw, according to Mayer.

The appeals court affirmed, but determined that the elements of self-defense relied upon by the district court—assault and retreat—were “complex and somewhat convoluted in the facts of this case.” Ultimately, the court of appeals did not decide the assault or retreat issues, but 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 was “reasonable to infer that the robbery was in progress” when Baker got out of the car and demanded the goods back.

“Based on the specific evidence presented in this case, we conclude that Baker has met his burden of presenting sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that he was not the original 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 the guns pointed at him, did not have a reasonable opportunity to retreat.

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

“We recognize 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 the use of force in self-defense was reasonable.”(…)The reasonableness of the degree of force used in a particular situation is a question essential to a jury.”

Dakota County District Attorney Kathy Keena said in an emailed statement Wednesday that she was aware of the Supreme Court’s decision, adding, “If the case is not resolved, it is my intention to retry the case.”

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.