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Just this past late-spring, the Court of Appeals issued a ruling that summarily approved of a lower court decision in which the expungement waiting period was applied from the date of discharge going forward 2-, 4-, or 5-years. There was no analysis…

The Court of Appeals issued a published opinion (compared to the many unpublished ones on the expungement law) that clarified the application of the “resolved in favor” language to continuance for dismissals. In doing so, the Court overru…

Burglary involves the breaking and entering into a building in order to commit a crime or when a person actually commits a crime. When the building is a dwelling – i.e. a place suitable for living – sentencing for the burglary offense get…

A fourth degree assault is charged when a person allegedly assaults a certain class of individuals – usually a police officer or paramedic, for example. Most assume that this is an automatic felony; and frankly, this is how it is charged out mo…

The Fifth Amendment provides that no person shall be compelled to be a witness against themselves in a criminal case. In lay mans terms, the Fifth Amendment is the right against self-incrimination. Per a 1966 United States Supreme Court decision, a M…

In August of this year, an overlooked law change occurred that will meaningfully impact Minnesotans. Most traffic citations include a fine in the $100-300 range. Real money, but it’s at least reasonable. In August, this change for those charged…

In the 2017 Minnesota legislative session, changes were made to MN DWI Laws. These new laws went into affect at the beginning of July. None of these changes are ground-shaking, but it’s nonetheless important to understand them and how they̵…

This week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued an important decision, pulling back the expanding usage of drug detection dogs for searches of controlled substances. In State v. Edstrom, the Court of Appeals held that law enforcement must get a warr…