Category: Criminal Defense

Minnesota DWI license issues go further than the driver’s license

Many Minnesotans may recognize that a charge for driving while impaired will potentially have a significant impact of the person’s ability to drive. While a person accused of drunk driving can expect their driving privilege to be revoked, the license revocation may be challenged in a civil hearing apart from the DWI criminal case, if the driver timely files a legal challenge to the revocation.

Minnesota, federal courts haven’t addressed new police technique

Can police use your cellphone and cellphone towers to determine your location? If so, do police officers need to get a warrant based on probable cause before they do? These are the questions that one lawsuit hoped to solve for the whole country, but the Supreme Court of the United States has declined to hear the case. Since Minnesota courts and the federal court responsible for Minnesota have not yet heard the issue either, it remains to be seen whether this is permissible under criminal law.

NTSB recommends 0.05 percent for state DWI charges, P. 2

Earlier this week, we opened a discussion of a recent recommendation from the national Transportation Safety Board suggesting that states lower the driving while impaired threshold from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent blood alcohol concentration.

Supreme Court leaves defendants between a rock and a hard place

It’s the time of year when the Supreme Court of the United States issues its decisions and nearly every year a few of them have some serious ramifications on criminal defense. Anyone in Minneapolis who read about the ruling in Salinas v. Texas knows that this will have a negative effect on criminal law and defendants’ rights.

New Supreme Court ruling vastly alters criminal defense

In what will likely become a landmark criminal defense case, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling today that allows police to obtain and analyze an arrestee’s DNA as part of routine booking procedures. The majority opinion considered a DNA cheek swab to be similar to fingerprinting or taking booking photographs. The dissent, however, was very vocal that while this may solve some crimes, it is still invasive.

Minneapolis residents skeptical about increased police presence

Residents in certain Minneapolis neighborhoods may be seeing a lot more of the police this summer, as the Minneapolis police chief recently announced the city’s plan to increase the police presence. The two areas that will be most affected will be the North Side and the Warehouse District. This move has not been entirely embraced, however.

Man wrongfully sent to prison for 9 years on false confession

While our blog has talked extensively about how important it is for Minneapolis and St. Paul residents charged with a crime to seek out the help of an experienced criminal defense lawyer, the following story shows just what can go wrong if you do not ask for a lawyer immediately after being arrested. Though the story does not happen in Minnesota, it is important reminder that it is essential to understand your rights and the legal ramifications of talking to police.

Warrantless DWI Tests Tossed in McNeely Opinion by Supreme Court

Today the United States Supreme Court decided the DWI case of McNeely v. Missouri. We have previously blogged on this case several times. In summary, the high Court said that police cannot take a DWI blood sample from a driver without his consent where they also did not have a warrant. This means that Warrantless DWI Tests are unconstitutional, illegal, and should not be allowed. Thus any DWI test evidence gathered without a warrant should be tossed out by a Judge.

New Supreme Court ruling will influence drunk driving charges

If Minneapolis police arrest you after you are involved in a fatal accident, there is a very real possibility that you could face vehicular manslaughter or vehicular homicide charges. When faced with these kinds of charges, it is important to remember that a strong criminal defense attorney can help clear your name or have your charges reduced. Trying to handle such serious charges alone is not only extremely difficult, but a mistake could cost years of your freedom.

St. Paul natives acquitted of Craigslist theft charges

As we have mentioned previously in this blog, for someone in St. Paul to be convicted of a crime, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the individual did what he or she was charged with doing. If the prosecutor can’t prove this, then the jury must acquit the defendant of the charges. If it is clear that the prosecutor doesn’t have any evidence or not nearly enough evidence, the prosecutor may drop the charges altogether.