If someone alleges an assault, either to police or in family court for example, that could qualify as "trouble" for the person accused. If facing a criminal assault charge in court, the defendant can raise the defense of self-defense, if he or she has some evidence to support that... View More

The stay of imposition meant that if you successfully completed probation, that the matter would've become a misdemeanor. However, if you violated probation, the stay of imposition could be vacated and there would be a stayed sentence of one year and one day on a lower level felony like a... View More

The right of the search warrant authorizes law enforcement to be in the location to search and seize items of evidentiary value. I don't know that there would need to be a specific authorization for additional people present, for example the alleged victim, if they have the alleged victim... View More

People are often discharged from probation early once they have completed the terms and conditions of their probation. I can't say for Ramsey County, but in many counties you would be transferred to unsupervised probation or discharged early after you have completed your community service and... View More

Arson doesn’t require that you entirely burn down a building. Arson is intentionally setting the building on fire. Whether it burns down or not is immaterial.

The cops aren’t generally going to track down and verify every alleged alibi that a suspect tells them about. I’m not sure... View More

The law yields a more nuanced answer. A witness has the right to legal counsel, and can retain an attorney to help assert the witness's rights. Minnesota recognizes a two-part spousal privilege. Minn. Stat. § 595.02, subd. 1(a); State v. Gianakos, 644 N.W.2d 409, 415 (Minn. 2002)... View More

The short answer is that yes, a couple can marry for the purpose of gaining access to the marital privilege in court actions, even if the charges are pending when the marriage happens. But, Marital privilege for evidentiary purposes is actually two separate privileges:

The first is the... View More

Yes, public defenders are really on your side. You public defender most certainly DID NOT notify law enforcement that you had a warrant. Who knows why the warrant showed up this time, but I am confident that your public defender didn't have anything to do with it. They aren't going to... View More

Public Defenders are really on the defendant's side. Loyalty to the client is the first rule of Professional Responsibility. Lawyers are not required to report on clients with a warrant. Rather than focus too much on how an old warrant was executed and cleared by arrest, I'd shift... View More

Police are required to have "reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity" or an observed violation of law to justify a traffic stop. If police are "profiling" in a way that lacks that justification, then the stop could be ruled illegal by a judge. If a defendant... View More

Did not know they were committing a what? Law enforcement needs reasonable articulable suspicion to pull someone over. They would then need probable cause to place that individual under arrest and probable cause to get a warrant to seize their blood or urine. Get an attorney on board to review... View More

In criminal cases, the prosecutor must file a charging document (Complaint, Indictment, etc.) before the applicable Statute of Limitations period expires. The date the defendant learned of the criminal charge is not relevant to a Statute of Limitations issue. There may sometimes be, however,... View More

Theoretically when the prosecution dismisses a codefendant's criminal charges it could have no effect on other codefendants' cases. But in practice there can be some effects. For example, it could have impacts on whether the dismissed codefendant can be forced to testify at the... View More

Who will do the considering, after hearing & seeing the evidence? Likely would be a judge. If the person being served could reasonably understand that they were being personally delivered papers, a judge would likely view that as effective personal service (even if the person never looked at... View More

Can a defendant move (ask the judge) to withdraw their guilty plea at a sentencing hearing? Yes. Is that a good idea? Maybe not. Minnesota has a relatively recent law reducing some "Controlled Substance 5th Degree Possession" cases from a felony to a Gross Misdemeanor if the amount is... View More

A defendant can make a motion (ask the judge) to withdraw their prior guilty plea. The judge could grant or deny that motion. Note that under the Minnesota Rule of Criminal Procedure, the legal standard for a judge allowing plea withdrawal is higher (more difficult) after sentencing than before.... View More

I presume that when you plead that you told the officer under the oath that you understood the rights that you were waiving when you plead guilty and that you were not under the influence. You can certainly try withdraw the plea, but I don't expect that the court is going to let you withdraw... View More

Is this restitution from a criminal conviction or are you using the term in the general sense? In either case, most attorneys who deal with civil disputes in general practice can assist you. Firms that specialize in personal injury probably not. You and your attorney will need evaluate the... View More

The defense can file a motion to suppress evidence based upon an illegal traffic stop. If the judge grants it, all evidence police obtained as a result of the illegal traffic stop would be suppressed by the judge. Almost always, this results in the criminal and traffic charges being dismissed.... View More

In Minnesota police must justify a traffic stop with "reasonable articulable suspicion of criminal activity" or an observed traffic law violation. These are based on facts that the officer can articulate, later to a judge. A driver must have a valid driver's license to lawfully... View More