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A Minnesota Felony Sentence of a “Stay of Adjudication” for a felony offense can entirely avoid a conviction, provided you successfully complete probation. With a stay of adjudication:
– You plead guilty to a felony level offense. However, the Judge does not “accept” your plea of guilty. You get a Felony Sentence of a “Stay of Adjudication.” What this means is that a conviction for a felony is not entered on your criminal record, provided you successfully complete probation.
The war on drugs has claimed new victims after Hennepin County officials arrested and charged 20 individuals with conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime. It is undeniable that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are cracking down harder than ever on drug possession, manufacturing and distribution, leading to numerous methamphetamine drug charges being filed each year. Because these agencies are pushing so hard to arrest and convict anyone suspected of drug charges, it is easy for law enforcement to go too far and violate suspects’ rights.
Before a Maple Grove woman can stand trial for her alleged involvement with a fatal motor vehicle accident, it must be determined that she is competent to stand trial. The 61-year-old woman has made her initial court appearance, but her attorney insists that her aneurysms, dementia and cognitive disorders all make her unable to stand trial. The court has ordered a mental evaluation before her next court appearance.
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.