MANCHESTER, N.H. — Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota faced tough questions from a host of “The View,” Sunny Hostin, during an interview on Tuesday regarding her handling of the conviction of a black teenager when she was a county prosecutor.
A report from The Associated Press last month revealed, among other things, that the police had offered witnesses money in exchange for names and failed to pursue leads that could have exonerated the teenager, Myon Burrell, who was accused of fatally shooting an 11-year-old girl.
“I’ve reviewed the facts of that case, and it is one of the most flawed investigations and prosecutions that I think I have ever seen,” said Ms. Hostin, who was once a prosecutor. “How do you defend something like that to someone like me, who is the mother of a black boy, a black teenager? This case would be my worst nightmare.”
Ms. Klobuchar — who, when she was running for Senate, emphasized the case as an example of her tough-on-crime approach as Hennepin County prosecutor — reiterated her previous statement, saying, “All of the evidence needs to be immediately reviewed in that case, the past evidence and any new evidence that has come forward.”
That answer did not satisfy Ms. Hostin, who noted that as a senator, Ms. Klobuchar is a “powerful woman” who could do more.
“I’ve called for the office and the courts to review the evidence,” Ms. Klobuchar said. “I think you know, Sunny, that I care so much about justice, and this case must be reviewed.”
Ms. Hostin also pressed Ms. Klobuchar on other aspects of her record as head of the Hennepin County attorney’s office, including the fact that the office did not prosecute any of the more than two dozen killings by police officers in the county in the eight years Ms. Klobuchar was in charge.
“We all know there’s systematic racism in this criminal justice system — there’s no doubt about that,” Ms. Klobuchar responded, before saying she had decreased incarceration of black people during her tenure as prosecutor and diversified the office.
The questioning underscored a source of concern for Ms. Klobuchar, who came in fifth in the Iowa caucuses and is rising in polls of New Hampshire voters, as her presidential campaign begins to look to the more racially diverse states that will vote next.
While former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., has faced more skepticism about his ability to attract black voters, Ms. Klobuchar has similarly low — and in some cases worse — polling numbers among them, particularly in South Carolina.
Ms. Klobuchar cited her victories in Minnesota as evidence that black voters could come to support her.
“My challenge is to get people to know me,” she said, sounding a lot like Mr. Buttigieg. “I’ve always had strong support in my elections at home, and I have a number of key leaders in the African-American community in Minnesota that have gone and campaigned for me.”
Mr. Burrell was convicted in the 2002 shooting of Tyesha Edwards, who was 11 when she was killed by a stray bullet. But The A.P. quoted a co-defendant as saying that he, not Mr. Burrell, was responsible for the shooting.
Ms. Klobuchar oversaw Mr. Burrell’s first trial, conviction and sentencing in 2003. That conviction was later reversed by the Minnesota Supreme Court, which found that a key statement made by Mr. Burrell should not have been used in the trial.
Mr. Burrell, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, was later convicted in a second trial and sentenced to life in prison.