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When most people in the Twin Cities hear about a 16-year prison sentence, they assume the person convicted did something extremely horrible or heinous so as to get such a large sentence. Unfortunately, some courts throw out these lengthy sentences for something as minor as a robbery or a felon in possession of a firearm charge. As a 42-year-old Minneapolis man pled guilty to the weapons charge and interference with commerce by robbery, he may never have imagined that he would spend the next 195 months behind bars.
A witness has told police that while he and three other men were smoking methamphetamine earlier this month, one man pulled out a gun and shot another man and shot at the third individual before fleeing to another hotel. Police subsequently arrested a 33-year-old man and have charged him with second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder after the individual who had been shot died. If the 33-year-old receives a felony conviction, he could be facing considerable time in prison.
Police are saying that a Minnesota man has been caught mid-heist after burglarizing a high-end home. The 43-year-old man is suspected of more than 20 incidents of theft in more than 11 areas of the Twin Cities, but police have released little information about what they say connects this man to the other break-ins.
A Minnesota DWI could result from too many clean glasses: Today’s article on the Star Tribune about Clean Beer Glasses explains how beer experts have started a new Twitter campaign to post pictures of empty pint glasses of beer with only suds remaining. If you had one too many pints at your local watering hole and got tagged with a Minnesota DUI, then you need serious help now!
When Minnesota police and prosecutors choose to arrest a suspect and file charges, we expect that they have found sufficient evidence to accuse someone of a crime. Especially with high-publicity, violent crimes, it is even more important that prosecutors don’t just throw around charges because of the serious consequences that will follow an allegation of murder.
For the first time since its inception, the Minnesota Sex Offender Program will release its first patient. According to a report by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a three-judge panel in Ramsey County decided to grant a provisional discharge to a 64-year-old man, after there was no objection from prosecutors or the Department of Human Services.
One of the important things that must be proven on a hit-and-run charge is that the driver was aware that he or she hit a person. After 45-year-old Amy Senser was charged with vehicular homicide for an alleged hit-and-run accident that took the life of a 38-year-old man, questions have been raised as to whether she knew she hit anyone. The accident occurred on Aug. 23, 2011 at approximately 11:08 p.m. in Minneapolis near the entrance ramp to westbound Interstate 94 and Riverside Avenue. While prosecutors allege that the woman hit the man and drove off, she insists she believed she only hit a piece of construction equipment.
Recently, a conference was held at William Mitchell College of Law that discussed potential changes to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. Commissioner Lucinda Jesson of the Department of Human Services, the agency responsible for carrying out the program, as well as legislators from both parties attended. The state is currently facing serious issues in the treatment of sex offenders.