Police are required to have a "reasonable, articulable suspicion" of drug-related activity before they will be allowed to walk a trained narcotics-detection dog down the hallway of your apartment building. The Minnesota Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the police. Evidence obtained as the result of an illegal search [...]
If your criminal defense attorney is able to suppress the use of the blood, breath or urine test results in your Minnesota DWI case, you will have found the key to winning your case. The use of a chemical test result by the prosecution is critical to a successful DWI prosecution. [...]
It's a felony offense in Minnesota for a driver to flee or to attempt to flee a police officer who is lawfully discharging his official duties when the driver knows or reasonably should know that he is being pursued by a police officer. The case normally begins by the officer attempting to execute a stop for a traffic violation, [...]
Yes, any person who is newly admitted as an inmate to a jail facility in Minnesota has a right to make either a local or collect long-distance phone call. The right to make a phone call from jail allows you to contact either a family member or a significant other and [...]
Before the police can conduct a pat frisk, there must first be a lawful investigative stop. Police are allowed to temporarily detain a person or stop a car when there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or is being committed. The standard is less than the probable cause required for an [...]
One of the central issues for the jury to decide in every robbery case is the identification of the suspect. The state will need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is the person who in fact committed the robbery. A conviction will not stand if it is based on inaccurate testimony. [...]
Let's say you are at the Minneapolis airport and happen to be carrying $50,000.00 in cash in your backpack. The cash does not represent proceeds from any criminal activity. Instead, you are a hardworking American citizen who dutifully saved the cash from the profits made running a small business. Your plan is fly to California and use the cash [...]
Officers who conduct a lawful arrest may freeze a suspected drug house while obtaining a search warrant. Officers must have probable cause to believe that evidence of criminal activity may be found on the premises. When officers freeze a drug house, all occupants will be required to stay and will be detained while other officers engage in the process [...]
A defendant in a Minnesota criminal case has no absolute right to withdraw a guilty plea. The Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure allow for the withdrawal of a guilty plea in two different situations. In the first, a judge may grant the request either before or after sentencing "if the withdrawal is necessary [...]
In a recent Minneapolis narcotics investigation, officers used a cell phone locator tool to track a drug dealer to his residence. A confidential informant provided police officers with information that a suspect known as "Dennis" was dealing large amounts of powdered and crack cocaine in North Minneapolis. The informant supplied officers with the suspect's cell phone [...]
