Felonies

There are two certainties in life: death and taxes. Very few enjoy the process of filing tax returns and paying their taxes. But, it’s an obligation we cannot avoid. IF you do avoid it, though, you could receive the attention of the IRS or face…

Roughly a year ago, a client contacted North Star seeking an appeal of his sentence, which would require him to remain in the Minnesota State Prison system for at least four full years. He had entered a plea of guilty in Minneapolis to first degree n…

Minnesota’s sentencing laws used to be more penal than just, particularly in the everlasting ‘war on drugs.’ Sentencing reform in 2016 provided some help in stopping the law from being overly punitive toward controlled substance cri…

Family law can get downright nasty – especially when it comes to parenting rights. It is not uncommon for the parents to fight tooth and nail to maximize their parenting time to the detriment of the other parent. Multiple hearings and parenting…

UPDATE: The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed this decision and upheld the statute as being constitutional. Read our latest blog on the Supreme Court’s decision here. In December 2019, the Court of Appeals struck down Minnesota’s revenge p…

As previously discussed in our blog about dispositional departures, sentencing often can be the most critical part of the criminal case. When the State simply has the facts to convict you, the case then turns to how to obtain the best possible senten…

Sentencing can often be the most important part of a criminal case for a defendant. Whether the defendant plead guilty or was found guilty at trial, sentencing is when the defendant finds out their criminal consequences. With prison on the line in fe…

Minnesota’s sex crimes require a specific intent that is undefined by statute. In order for the State to prove a defendant committed criminal sexual contact, it must show that the defendant committed the contact with “sexual or aggressive…