Category: Criminal Defense

When can evidence be found inadmissible?

On July 30th of this year, a Minnesota police officer was shot to death during a routine traffic stop. According to the Star Tribune, a 39-year-old man fled the scene and had a shootout with law enforcement, taking eight bullets. The man survived and is set to stand trial. His attorneys have requested that some of the evidence be suppressed, including statements that the defendant made while in the hospital.

Child molestation convictions come with harsh penalties in Minnesota

A cult leader in Minnesota came under fire earlier this year when he was accused of abusing two girls in the community. According to Fox Twin Cities, the pastor fled the state but has been charged with 59 counts of sexual misconduct, including child molestation. The women accusing him of the behavior said that when they were 12 and 13 years old, they moved in with him and a number of other girls. They claim they were abused for a period of 10 years. A criminal defense attorney Minneapolis defendants can trust will be an essential part of this man’s case.

Federal Case Made Out of Fish Goes to U.S. Supreme Court, Fisherman Needs Criminal Justice Attorney

John Yates is a fisherman who was out on the water with his crew. He was fishing for grouper in the Gulf of Mexico. Officer Jones boarded the boat to check the sizes of the fish. Jones believed that the fisherman were keeping fish smaller than the 20-inch minimum. Jones found 72 grouper that were under the 20 inch minimum. Jones ordered the fish off the boat to check them once on main land. When the boat came on the mainland, Jones did not think the fish were the same fish he saw on the boat and thought Yates tossed the fish overboard and replaced them with larger fish.

Child Neglect Charges: Criminal Attorney in St. Paul, MN Needed by Man Who Left Child in Car on Hot Day

Alexander Rupp was just charged with child neglect in St. Paul, MN. Child neglect is a gross misdemeanor in Minnesota and carries up to one year in jail and or a $3,000 fine. Rupp left his 3-year-old daughter inside his car in August 2014.  The temperate on the day in question was about 74 degrees.  Mendota Heights police found the child locked inside the car. She was sweating and wiping her forehead. The officer smashed the window to the car to unlock the door. Once making contact with the child, the officer noticed that the child had warm skin.  Rupp told police that when he arrived and parked, he got into an argument with his daughter so he decided to leave her in the vehicle. He admitted that he shouldn’t have brought her and that he should have left the car running.

Viking’s Adrian Peterson Pleads Guilty to Assault of Son

Minnesota Vikings NFL star running back Adrian Peterson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of reckless assault. Peterson will avoid jail time and pay a $4,000 fine and court costs. He will also have to do 80 hours of community service. Peterson will also be on probation. If he successfully completes probation, he will avoid having this on his record. He was originally charged with felony reckless or negligent injury to a child for hitting his son with a wooden tree branch.

Adrian Peterson accused of Violating Release Conditions

Adrian Peterson admitted that he smoked marijuana before taking a drug test last week.  He told the courthouse employee that he “smoked a little weed” prior to giving his urine sample. One of his conditions of release was to refrain from using illegal drugs. He posted a $15,000 bond in his felony child abuse case in Texas. The prosecutor is now trying to get his bail revoked and increased because Peterson violated his conditions of release. This would mean that he would be arrested again. Peterson’s conditions of release are broad and have no direct link to the facts of the case he was charged with.

Is fingerprint evidence ever reliable?

Three Philadelphia men were accused of running a drug ring that was linked to a number of murders. According to ABC News, attorneys for the men sought to bar fingerprint evidence from the trial. A district court judge ruled that examiners cannot provide testimony alleging that prints found at a crime scene are a match to a defendant’s prints. The judge noted that there is not enough scientific evidence to establish that fingerprints are reliable.

Minnesota man faces murder charges after infant son dies in his care

In late August, a Minnesota man brought his 2-month-old son to a hospital in Albany, Minnesota in Stearns County. According to CBS Minnesota, the man and the infant’s mother told hospital workers that the boy was seizing and having trouble breathing. The baby was airlifted to another hospital for treatment, and staff suspected that he had been abused. The father admitted to law enforcement that he had fallen while holding the baby, but a board certified abuse physician said the injuries were not consistent with the way the man said he fell.