Minnesota Criminal Defense Legal Questions

The first thing that you should do is contact the law enforcement agency that has the hold on your vehicle. Generally, the agency will have an officer that deals directly with vehicle forfeitures. Explain the situation and hope he or she agrees to release the car asap. If not, in my opinion, you are an "innocent owner" per Minnesota Statutes and have just grounds to file a demand for judicial determination with respect to the vehicle.... Read More

I'm assuming you were charged with some sort of crime (you don't say what crime). The short answer is no, if your husband got a OFP (order for protection against you) it bolsters the criminal charge against you. There is no angle to move out of Minnesota, the birthdates being wrong is a mere formality. Find a good criminal defense attorney in your area immediately.... Read More

Second degree assault means the state is alleging that a weapon of some sort was used in the assault. There is typically a mandatory minimum year and a day prison sentence involved. If you feel you have a self-defense defense, then you must get a lawyer who can investigate the facts, present them and your witnesses to the prosecutor, and if needed, to present the defense to a jury. The state bears the burden to disprove self-defense.... Read More

If the no contact was part of the defendant's sentence, you'll have to talk to the prosecutor to make the request. You may also want to contact the lawyer who represented the defendant. It will ultimately have to be decided by the defendant's sentencing judge. If it is a civil order, instigated by you, you'll need to petition the court to dismiss the no contact order.... Read More

It is hard to tell for sure what kind of disposition you received back in 2004.  You could have resolved the matter with a Stay of Adjudication or with a Continuance for Dismissal.  In either case the matter would have been dismissed after successfully completing probation, but they have very different implications for expungment. First, you can truthfully say that you have not been convicted of any crime.  But there will still be a record of your original arrest, and there may be a record of the initial court proceedings.  In order to address those issues you will need to bring a motion to expunge those records.  This motion asks the court to order that the records be sealed and become unavailable to the public. In Minnesota, your ability to obtain a full expungment of all agency records will depend on whether there is an on the record admission of facts.  Generally, you are better off if there was no admission, as would be the case in a Continuance for Dismissal.... Read More

As I understand the question, you towed a car to your property which you later discovered was stolen.  I understand that the police also searched the rest of your property.  I also assume that you had a legal basis to pick up and tow the automobile in the first place. In order to search your residence, the police either need a warrant, or they need probable cause plus exigent circumstances.  Probable cause means that a normally cautious person would have harbored a belief that your property contained proceeds from, evidence of, or tools used to commit crime.  Generally speaking this is not enough to enable the police to come to your residence and search, they must first go get a warrant.  More on that in a moment.  If the police are facing an emergency situation and have probable cause, they can search without a warrant. When the police go to get a warrant, they must provide sworn testimony to a neutral judge or magistrate.  The testimony must establish facts, to the satisfaction of the judge that probable cause exists.  Such testimony is almost always a written affidavit.  The judge will then issue the warrant, and the police must restrict their search to the limits set within the warrant. In Minnesota, you can fight the admission of evidence obtained by a warrant search by collaterally attacking the probable cause determination, or if there were reckless false statements made by the officers within the affidavit. This is a common issue, and usually arise in drug cases or theft cases where the police have used a warrant within their investigation.  Occasionally, an improper warrant, or improperly executed warrant may lead to a misconduct case against the police, but that is rare.... Read More

Mr. Gilman, You can be charged, if she reports the matter to the police, and if the County Attorney decides to file charges.  Being charged does not mean that you will be convicted however.  The charge, or complaint, is just the first step in a long process.  Of course, in Minnesota, self defense is a complete defense.  You have the right to use reasonable force to prevent injury to yourself, which would surely have happened if you lost control of your car.  Even though most people agree that one should never hit a woman, the law allows self defense under the circumstances you describe.  The law is gender neutral. The only difficulty in this situation is that self defense is a fact intensive defense.  This usually means that the case will go to trial, or be litigated right up to the verge of trial.  You will need to hire experienced trial counsel to help prepare and present your defense.  I have had several domestic assault cases which were dismissed on the eve of trial when the prosecutor became convinced that we were prepared to fight the case, and when we provided evidence documenting the history of the relationship between the client and alleged victim. Do not discuss the case with anyone other than counsel, and try to avoid making it part of the divorce proceeding.  Best of Luck.... Read More

A petty misdemeanor is considered a non-criminal offense, because there is no possibility for a jail sanction. It is like a speeding ticket. By paying the fine, you pled guilty to the charge. While not technically a crime, you are still guilty of the petty misdemeanor violation. You may run into problems with applying for financial aid. Drug offenses can disqualify you from receiving federal student loans.... Read More

No, you really can't. Minnesota's current expungement laws do not clear your records from the executive branch, including the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension who maintains rap sheets. In order to get a perfectly "clean" record, you have to have been charged with the offense, but never plead guilty or be found guilty or have a judge find that there was probable cause to believe that you were guilty.... Read More

The school is not required to give you a warning before having you arrested for trespassing. The presumption is that you may not be on school property. Minnesota law makes is a crime to be on school property, unless you are a student, parent of a student, guardian of a student, a school employee, have permission or an invitation to be on the school property, or have reported your presence to the required officials. The relevant statute is Minnesota Statute 609.605, Subdivision 4. Trespasses on school property. (a) It is a misdemeanor for a person to enter or be found in a public or nonpublic elementary, middle, or secondary school building unless the person: (1) is an enrolled student in, a parent or guardian of an enrolled student in, or an employee of the school or school district; (2) has permission or an invitation from a school official to be in the building; (3) is attending a school event, class, or meeting to which the person, the public, or a student's family is invited; or (4) has reported the person's presence in the school building in the manner required for visitors to the school. A misdemeanor is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000.00 fine. It is a gross misdemeanor if three or more people violate the statute. A gross misdemeanor is punishable by up to 365 days in jail and a $3,000.00 fine. (c) It is a gross misdemeanor for a group of three or more persons to enter or be found in a public or nonpublic elementary, middle, or secondary school building unless one of the persons: (1) is an enrolled student in, a parent or guardian of an enrolled student in, or an employee of the school or school district; (2) has permission or an invitation from a school official to be in the building; (3) is attending a school event, class, or meeting to which the person, the public, or a student's family is invited; or (4) has reported the person's presence in the school building in the manner required for visitors to the school.... Read More

Many states treat persons under the age of 18 as juveniles when they are charged with criminal offenses. Missouri, where you are from, is not one of them. In Missouri, persons over the age of 17 who commit crimes are treated as adults. Thus, your upcoming 18th birthday will have no effect on your case. (Had you been 16, going on 17 when the crime occurred, your case would have been handled in the juvenile court, since the determining factor is your age on the date of the offense, rather than your age on subsequently scheduled court dates.) If this is your first offense, and the item is valued at less than $500.00, the offense is a Class A Misdemeanor, punishable by jail and/or a fine. Criminal convictions, even for minor offenses like shoplifting, can have long-term consequences, particularly with prospective employers, Many states provide for diversion for first time offenders in shoplifting cases. Under such a program, you could avoid a permanent criminal conviction being placed on your record. I recommend you seek out the services of an experienced criminal defense attorney in your area who can advise you if diversion is an available option and whether, after considering any defenses you might have to the charge, it is one you should pursue.... Read More

If you have been sentenced to jail and given a date to report, and you fail to show up on that date, a warrant will issue for your arrest. You really should consider other options. One possibility is having your attorney file a motion to postpone your reporting date in which he or she explains the emergency. The Court may give you some extra time so that you can take care of your emergency. If you don't have counsel, but are on pre-trial release, you might talk to to your pre-trial release officer and see if he or she can assist you in requesting a delay. If that fails, you might try contacting the court clerk and explaining the situation, and then ask if there is any way you can get the matter set before the judge prior to the start of your sentence so you can ask for a short delay to take care of the emergency. Again, ignoring the reporting date is the worst choice you can make.... Read More

Make My Day laws permit an occupant of a dwelling to use physical force, including deadly physical force, against an intruder. They are premised on the principle that homeowners have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes. Make My Day laws provide immunity from criminal prosecution when certain factors are present. If one or more of the factors is in dispute, and a person is charged with a crime and has to go to trial, he or she may raise the make my day law as a defense. The exact elements may vary from state to state, but the following conditions are typical of when the law comes into play: (1) Someone made an unlawful entry into your dwelling. (2) You reasonably believed he or she had committed or was about to commit a crime inside the dwelling, apart from the unlawful entry. (3) You reasonably believed the person might use physical force, no matter how slight, against you or another occupant of the dwelling; and (4) you then used force against the person. Put another way, the laws provide that you are justified in using any degree of physical force, including deadly force, against another person who has unlawfully entered your dwelling--provided you have a reasonable belief that the intruder might use some kind of physical force, no matter how slight, against you or anyone else who is lawfully within the dwelling. Some states with a version of Make My Day laws are Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and New Jersey.... Read More

Not necessarily. In a jury trial, jurors determine the credibility of witnesses, with guidance from the Judge in the form of instructions provided after all the evidence has been received. The judge instructs the jurors that they are the sole and exclusive judges of the credibility of each of the witnesses called to testify. If they believe that a witness has testified falsely as to any material matter, they may decide to believe all of that witness'' testimony, only a portion of it, or none of it. The judge also provides guidance on how jurors should assess the witnesses'' credibility. Jurors are told to carefully scrutinize all of the testimony given, and the circumstances under which each witness has testified. They are advised to consider each witness''s intelligence, motive to falsify, state of mind, and appearance and manner while on the witness stand. Jurors also should consider the witness''s ability to observe the matters as to which he or she has testified and consider whether he or she appears to have an accurate memory or recollection of these matters. It is also important for jurors to consider any relation a witness may bear to either side of the case, the manner in which each witness might be affected by a verdict one way or the other, and the extent to which, if at all, each witness is either supported or contradicted by other evidence in the case. Inconsistencies or discrepancies in the testimony of a witness or between the testimony of different witnesses, may or may not cause a juror to disbelieve or discredit such testimony. Two or more persons witnessing an incident or a transaction may simply see or hear it differently. In weighing the effect of a discrepancy, however, jurors should always consider whether the discrepancy results from innocent error or from intentional falsehood. Each juror should make her own judgment or assessment concerning the believability of a witness, and then attach such importance or weight to that testimony, if any, that she feel it deserves. If the witness is an informant, someone who provides evidence against someone else for money, or to escape punishment for his or her own misdeeds or crimes, or for other personal reason or advantage, the jurors are instructed to examine and weigh such testimony with greater care than the testimony of a witness who is not so motivated. In other words, the jurors must determine whether the informant''s testimony has been affected by self-interest, or by the agreement he or she has with the government, or by prejudice against the defendant.... Read More