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Many drivers in Minnesota understand that charges of driving while impaired are considered enhanceable offenses under state law. A first-time offender may face a fourth-degree DWI charge, if alcohol tests taken within two hours of the alleged drunk driving offense show results falling between 0.08 percent and 0.20 percent alcohol levels.
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!
No one can deny that underage binge drinking is a serious problem in the U.S. The Midwest is especially known for underage drinking on college campuses and among high school students.
Recently, this blog reported on the Minnesota Supreme Court’s opinion issued earlier this week on February 8, 2011 regarding the question of whether DWI urine tests are reliable. Specifically, the court did NOT decide the question of whether DWI urine tests are reliable, but instead chose to sidestep the issue on procedural grounds. The high Court refused to decide whether urine tests require a so-called Frye-Mack Hearing on their reliability.
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a defendant who has been charged with driving while impaired based upon a “first-void” urine test is not entitled to a hearing to challenge the reliability of that urine test because blood alcohol concentration is not relevant in a DWI case involving a urine test.
A 20-year-old Andover woman was charged in late January with several crimes after she called police to report a potential theft. Hopkins police say that an officer went to an establishment in Hopkins to investigate the alleged theft. The officer arrived at the Wild Boar shortly after 2:00 in the morning.
The state has selected 13 counties for increased enforcement of driving while intoxicated. Increased enforcement will likely lead to an increase in drunk driving charges across the 13 counties in Minnesota. One new county was added to the list. Sherburne will be added after Itasca County was removed last year.
Alcohol testing under Minnesota’s implied consent law has seen a number of challenges in recent years. This blog has reported the issues challenging the Intoxilyzer machines that are currently under review in the Minnesota Supreme Court. Last year, this blog discussed the issue of whether police can request a urine sample without a warrant under the implied consent laws and use the test results in the criminal case involving driving while impaired charges.
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