Question Detail: I was in the passenger seat of my friend's vehicle while he was pulled over for taking an illegal right turn on a red. Police smelled marijuana. My friend said the car was his and anything in it was his. They searched the car and found marijuana, a grinder, and a bowl. Since [...]
If you have been charged with a controlled substance offense and are making your first court appearance, the judge may order as a condition of your release that there be no use or possession of drugs and that you submit to random drug testing. You would be required by probation to submit to random urinalysis to determine if there is a detectable amount of controlled [...]
Police are not required by Minnesota law to leave behind a copy of the affidavit establishing probable cause for the issuance of the search warrant for your home. Police are only required to leave a copy of the search warrant and an inventory of items seized from the residence. A copy of the search warrant affidavit establishing probable cause [...]
Has your car been seized by the police for forfeiture? If so, you may have a valid defense to the forfeiture proceeding. My advice is to meet with an experienced forfeiture defense attorney to review the facts of your case and discuss possible defenses. Please be advised that there is a statutory time limit for [...]
The question often comes up about whether or not a person is required to produce identification when requested by a police officer after a traffic stop. The answer to the question depends on whether or not the stop of you car was legal. If the stop of your car was not supported by a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the officer has no legal [...]
The majority of crimes in Minnesota require the prosecution to prove that you had a particular intent or state of mind at the time the crime was committed. Burglary, for example, requires the prosecution to prove that you entered a dwelling without the consent of the owner and with the intent to commit a crime. When intent or [...]
When you are arrested in Minnesota for a probation violation, you must be brought in front of a judge within 36 hours, exclusive of the day of arrest. The judge may release you pending a probation revocation hearing, but there is no absolute right to bail. If you remain in custody, a revocation hearing must be held within 7 [...]
Under the Fith Amendment, you are not obligated to disclose your identity to police if the disclosure would incriminate you. In other words, you must reasonably believe that the disclosure of your identity could be used against you in a criminal prosecution or could lead to other evidence that might be used against you. Let's imagine that [...]
Under Minnesota law, the testimony of a rape victim does not need to be corroborated at trial by any other evidence. In other words, you can be convicted of a rape charge based on the testimony of the victim alone. The law is set up to insure against false charges and wrongful convictions through several [...]
The longer you wait to turn yourself in on a Minnesota probation violation, the more time you may spend in jail. The prosecution will use the delay as an argument against you when seeking for more jail time. Remember, there may still be plenty of jail time hanging over your head from the original sentence. The first step is to retain [...]
