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he issue of warrantless DWI tests and coerced consent to testing was argued before the Minnesota Supreme Court in the Brooks case on September 11, 2013. For more information, check this blog later this week.
For more information about warrantless DWI testing and Minnesota DWI’s look here: Minnesota DWI Defense Attorneys.
Historians say that 116 years ago today the first drunk driving arrest was made in England. A cabbie was charged with driving under the influence after allegedly crashing his electric powered cab into a building in 1897. Since that time, many people have been accused of driving while impaired. Individual states here in the U.S. began passing DWI laws after the turn of the last century as cars gained in popularity.
There are likely many people in Minneapolis who have heard the name Silk Road and they know it is not referring to the Central Asian trade route. Silk Road has been an online marketplace in which drug sellers and buyers could transact their business. For the past two years, the FBI has been looking for the individual behind the website and they have finally arrested the man they believe to be responsible. So, what does that mean for Minnesotans?
When someone in Minneapolis is arrested, convicted and sent to jail, the expectation is that when they make parole, that they will remain out of trouble. Unfortunately, the terms of parole can be incredibly difficult to follow, especially for those people who do not have family members to help them or a home in which to live. And if a parolee cannot fulfill the terms of his or her parole, he or she will be arrested and sent back to jail.
Last month we talked about Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement that the Obama administration was working toward reducing and eliminating draconian sentecing, often caused by mandatory minimum sentences. Especially prevalent with federal drug crimes, nonviolent, first-time offenders are sent to prison for years. For one woman serving time in Waseca, her mother questions why her sentence had to be so long.
Most people in Eagan recognize that a sexual assault charge is incredibly serious and a conviction would come with a long prison sentence and potentially a lifetime on the Minnesota Sex Offender Registry. With this in mind, it may seem ridiculous to think that anyone would enter a guilty plea on a charge of rape unless he or she actually raped someone. Yet 38 percent of juveniles who are convicted and later exonerated were found to enter false confessions. So when a teenager pleads guilty to any crime, what does he or she actually mean?
The role of a Minnesota criminal defense attorney is not always to clear his or her client’s name. Sometimes it is very clear that the defendant did what he or she was accused of and so a lawyer’s responsibilities shift. A criminal defense lawyer is also tasked with protecting his or her client’s rights at trial and during sentencing, working toward a fair charge, a fair trial and a fair punishment. Even when a defendant pleads guilty, a criminal defense lawyer is an important asset in negotiating a plea deal.
The attorney general recently told federal prosecutors to stop focusing on casual marijuana users in Minnesota and throughout the U.S. Instead, the attorney general told prosecutors to focus their efforts on charging individuals involved in drug cartels and other groups that sell illegal drugs to minors.
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