Usually, as in your case, they need the victim of the assault testifying as to what happened.

A victim’s testimony about an assault she personally experienced isn’t hearsay and can be sufficient standing alone to support a conviction if the jury believes the victim.

It can be... Read more »

The testimony of the alleged victim is not hearsay if she shows up and testifies under oath that you assaulted her. The fact that she is the only witness to the incident is not unusual. Many assaults occur when the only folks there are the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator. Listen to... Read more »

The state will have a difficult time getting a conviction on hearsay only. Normally the prosecutor will have at least one witness to testify that a crime did happen and the defendant did it. Pretrial evidentiary issues are less common in most assault cases, compared to other types of criminal... Read more »

There is no form or petition for this. A DANCO can only be lifted by a judge.

If you wish to have the DANCO lifted or modified, I would start by reaching out to the victim's advocate assigned to the defendant's case. In almost all domestic violence cases, there is a... Read more »

There is no form for this. You can certainly submit a letter to the Court asking for the DANCO to be modified or cancelled. The decision of whether that occurs is ultimately up to the judge who is assigned to handle the case. It is unlikely that the DANCO will be modified or cancelled if the... Read more »

Unfortunately, neither one of these offenses (felony assault & terroristic threats are expungable offenses in the State of Minnesota at this time. You can find a full list of expungable felony offenses here: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609A/full#stat.609A.01.

If you... Read more »

Fighting charges successfully almost always requires hiring a skilled criminal lawyer. You need to also be able to provide witnesses and documentary evidence that supports your version of the truth. WIthout that you will have to rely on the cross examination of the prosecution witnesses and you... Read more »

No judgments here. We all make mistakes and we as defense lawyers are here to help mitigate the fallout from your mistakes so that you are not defined by them. With that said-

The answer to your question is: it depends. The police officer who took the report and issued the citation will... Read more »

A "citation" typically refers to a Minnesota "uniform citation," issued by police in lieu of an arrest, as a Summons to court on a tab charge. Most are for petty misdemeanors or "payable" misdemeanors (meaning the court will accept a guilty plea by payment of fine... Read more »

Unlikely that Buddy #2 would be charged.

If Buddy #2 was some sort of accomplice to the crime that Buddy #1 turned himself in for or was part of a conspiracy with Buddy #2, or the two were part of a drug conspiracy, then yeah, possibly. It also depends on how old the videos are (statute of... Read more »

"Old videos" of a person smoking something in a water pipe, alone, would not be enough to charge a crime. But it could possibly inspire police to investigate further (in an effort to get enough evidence to charge a crime). Therefore, it would make sense to prepare for that, prepare to... Read more »

This is a great question. As a general matter, a person who is walking down the street minding their own business is entitled to Fourth Amendment protection, which protects people from "unreasonable searches and seizures" by the government. What you are describing sounds like a Terry... Read more »

There is not enough information to answer your question fully. If the items were seized pursuant to a warrant, then perhaps they could be admissible. But it would depend on what the scope of the warrant, the "totality of circumstances," whether you had a reasonable expectation of privacy... Read more »

What are the odds that she will benefit from good legal representation? That will have a big impact on outcome. The court cannot sentence any jail or probation unless the defendant is convicted first. So the defense attorney begins work on ways to prevent or make more difficult any conviction.... Read more »

If your girlfriend is a first time offender, there is a good possibility that the prosecutor would offer a stay of adjudication which would mean that she would be sentenced to a period of supervision, and it would prevent the offense from going on her record, provided she does not commit another... Read more »

First, this is not a double jeopardy issue. The fact that you were unable to work a year ago doesn't mean that you cannot work now. Mental health issues can get worse and they can get better. Ultimately, it would be up to probation to show in a violation hearing that you could've paid... Read more »

The double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for substantially the same crime by the same jurisdiction. But that would not apply to an alleged violation of a condition of probation. In Minnesota, the law allows a... Read more »

Surprisingly, yes you can. As a general rule: if you find a tangible object anywhere (public or private) and you know that object does not belong to you and you take it with the intent of keeping it, thereby depriving the rightful owner of their property, that is prima facie theft. It does not... Read more »

Yes, you sure can. The laws pertaining to theft in the state of Minnesota are fairly simple. As a general matter, if you find someone else's lost property (it doesn't matter where) and take it with the intent of keeping it for yourself (without first making a reasonable effort to find the... Read more »

It's not a good idea to post details of a possible crime on a public website. But calling a lawyer with a telephone would be a better way to start. A Minnesota therapist will be a "mandated reporter" to police, of any child abuse disclosed to them. Therefore seeking help could lead... Read more »