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Authorities are seeking criminal vehicular homicide and injury charges against a 21-year-old Cokato, Minnesota, man after a Friday night traffic accident near Willmar. The felony DWI charges were formally filed Monday in Kandiyohi County. The man is scheduled to appear Tuesday morning on three counts of felony CVH, one count of criminal vehicular injury, and a misdemeanor charge for open bottle in a motor vehicle.
Residents of Wayzata were likely watching Olympic swimming this summer as Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and other members of the American swim team took to the pool. These members of USA Swimming were just a few of the thousands of athletes who work tirelessly under the direction of their coaches. Now, people in Wayzata may have heard that USA Swimming and prominent coaches are defending themselves about sexual misconduct.
To the south of Minneapolis, in Jackson, Minnesota, a 66-year-old woman recently pled guilty to embezzlement. Whether it was because she pled guilty, the nature of her crime or her age, the judge was extremely lenient and only sentenced her to one year in jail. Embezzlement is a serious crime and often carries a considerable prison term, making it extremely important to work closely with an experienced white-collar criminal defense attorney.
A 26-year-old Richfield man’s life may be over after he recently pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in federal court. The 26-year-old had supposedly been working with a 40-year-old who had repeatedly sold methamphetamine to undercover police officers. It appears that it was only one time that the 26-year-old had actually sold to officers and he had only done so under the direction of the older man. Because he pled guilty, it is unlikely that we will ever learn if the younger man had been selling these drugs willingly.
With the sheer number of anti-drunk driving campaigns on Minnesota televisions and radios, many people in Minneapolis would assume that Minnesota is one of the strictest states when it comes to driving while intoxicated. Surprisingly, it is not. Minnesota is one of 33 states that does not require people convicted for the first time of drunk driving to install an ignition interlock. Unless a driver has a blood alcohol content that is two times the legal limit or higher or is being convicted of a second or subsequent drunk driving offense, Minnesotans do not need to have these devices in their vehicles.
Since Hennepin County launched its Veterans Treatment Court only two years ago, more than 100 veterans have appeared before the court to get the help they need instead of a lengthy prison sentence. The Minneapolis court has become a model and now advocates say the same type of court is needed in greater Minnesota as well. The point of the special court is to address the underlying issues veterans facing criminal charges struggle with and what ultimately brings them into the criminal justice system in the first place.
It is undeniable that some people make mistakes, and when they have been appropriately punished for their mistakes, they deserve a chance to start over. This applies to people who have made small mistakes and those who have committed drug crimes in Minnesota. After leaving prison, they should be able to find a job in Minneapolis-St. Paul and restart their lives.
If a Minneapolis resident heard that police had used videos to link a teenager to a crime, he or she would likely think that there was some kind of surveillance video that clearly depicted a child committing a crime. What is far more tenuous to accept, however, is that police would use video shot by suspects as evidence that they were involved in a crime. Since when did it become a crime to tape something going on?
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