Before police are allowed to search your cell phone, they must first obtain a search warrant from a judge based on a probable cause determination. The probable cause requirement means that there must be a fair probability that evidence of a crime will be found in the contents of the cell phone. In other words, there must be a [...]
When can police conduct a pat-down search of your person? Let's assume you were driving your car on a Saturday night in downtown Minneapolis and just made wide turn with a squad car trailing directly behind you. You happen to be carrying a hard cigarette pack containing a small baggie of crystal methamphetamine in your right [...]
CONSENT SEARCHES. You may be asked by a police officer to consent to the search of your person, home, or car. What should you do? Just say no. DO NOT sign a Consent to Search form. The police will make all kinds of dire threats to gain your consent to search, such as: (1) we [...]
What's the law in Minnesota about carrying a pistol in a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance? If you have a permit to carry and the pistol is located on or about your person or clothing, it's a misdemeanor for a first time offense. A second or subsequent offense [...]
What is the law in Minnesota regarding marijuana in a motor vehicle? The most important point to remember is that it's a felony for a person to possess more than 42.5 grams of marijuana in a car, on their person or anywhere within their possession or control. If a person is the owner or driver of a motor vehicle [...]
It's Saturday night and you are in downtown Minneapolis with your friends having a good time. Before leaving your apartment, you smoke some marijuana and leave behind about 45 grams in a plastic bag on the kitchen table. While you are gone, a pipe bursts in your apartment and water leaks down through the ceiling of the apartment below [...]
If you are charged with a violation of the Minnesota predatory offender registration law, the consequences of a conviction can be dire. If it's a first time offense, you are facing a mandatory minimum prison commit of not less than a year and a day and not more than five years! If you have a previous [...]
If you have served any prison time based on a wrongful conviction and have been exonerated by the court, you may be eligible for compensation. Eligibility can occur in a situation where a court has reversed or vacated a judgment of conviction based on grounds consistent with innocence and the charges are dismissed by a prosecutor. A person may also [...]
Who is a potential coconspirator to a drug sale? Any person who conspired with another person to commit a drug sale where one or more of the coconspirators did some overt act in furtherance of the of the conspiracy. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=609.175. The courts in Minnesota have determined that everything said, written or done by a single coconspirator [...]
If a person has been arrested in Minnesota, the goal is to have bail set in the lowest possible amount in order to expedite release from custody. Why is it so important for a defendant to be released from jail while his case is pending? The main reason of course is to be able to return to your employment and prevent job loss. The second reason is to be [...]
