ROBERT J. SHANE’S DEFENSE BLOG
Mr. Shane has over 30 years experience as a criminal defense attorney and a winning record. He will help you understand your rights.
When Can Police Search a Visitor’s Personal Belongings during a Search Warrant?
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution protects our homes against unreasonable searches and seizures by the police. A home may be search with a valid warrant but this will requires a showing before a judge of probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed and the home contains evidence of the crime. Any container inside the home may be searched if there is reason to believe the container may conceal the object of the search, [...]
When Can the Police Arrest You without a Warrant?
A licensed peace officer may arrest a person in Minnesota without a warrant under the following circumstances: (1) A person who commits a public offense observed by the police officer may be arrested without a warrant. If the offense is a misdemeanor, the law requires that the person be released on a citation unless it appears that an arrest is necessary to prevent bodily harm to the person or to someone else, or if there is a [...]
Can the Police Search Your Garbage for Contraband?
The police have a valuable tool to find out whether or not you have controlled substances in your home. It's called the garbage search. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that whoever deposits their trash for collection in an area open to public inspection gives up their right to privacy with respect to all of the discarded items. If the police suspect you of selling, possessing, or manufacturing drugs, they will make arrangements to ride along [...]
What can be done if I have already confessed?
Most people want to tell the truth. It’s in our nature. A confession to the police acknowledges our wrongdoing. When we confess, the weight of the world is lifted off our shoulders. We feel better inside, especially when the confession is given to an authority figure like a police officer. We are taught from childhood to admit to our misdeeds, apologize to the other kid, and say we are sorry. Religion teaches us to confess our sins. [...]
How To Avoid a DWI Arrest
Stay calm; don't get out of the car. Let the police officer come to you. Locate your license and registration as you will need to have it ready to hand over to the officer. You don't want to be observed fumbling around for these items as the officer will note this fact in his report as a symptom of intoxication. Roll your window down only enough to be able to communicate with the officer and pass over [...]
Defense Tips for Suspects in a Criminal Case
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 will get a search warrant if you don't cooperate; (2) you will be arrested; (3) we will bring in the narcotics detection [...]
Use of the Entrapment Defense in Minnesota
In Minnesota, the entrapment defense may be used in a criminal case to combat government overreaching and obtain an acquittal. In order to prevail on the defense, a defendant will need to establish by a "fair preponderance of the evidence" that the government induced him to commit the crime. Inducement occurs when the criminal design is conceived in the mind of the government. Police will often pressure, badger, and lure a defendant to [...]
POLICE SUBJECT MPLS. AIRPORT PACKAGES TO DOG SNIFF
Just when you thought your express mail package was safe from government intrusion, think again. Police at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport are now free to remove any package from a conveyor belt and subject it to a sniff by a narcotics detection dog. This seeming violation of the Fourth Amendment is no longer considered an unreasonable search and seizure in Minnesota. If the package was shipped from California or Arizona, it may appear suspicious to a police officer as these states are known a source [...]
Police Entrapment in Sex Sting Cases
How do the police set you up on a typical sex sting operation in Minnesota? The police may start by placing an ad on Backpages which reads something like, "Naughty Little Play Things." The ad will list the girls ages at 18. A person who responds to this ad will soon be entrapped by the police through the use of the age old "bait and switch" technique. How does it work? Well, the police start with the "bait" by including a sensual [...]
How to Stay Out of Prison on a MN Drug Case
Are you charged with a controlled substance crime in Minnesota that calls for a prison commit? Are there no defenses in your case and you are about to give up all hope? Help is on the way. You just need to prove to an open-minded judge at the time of sentencing that you are "particularly amenable to treatment in a probationary setting." Your criminal defense attorney will need to file a motion for a dispositional departure from the presumptive [...]
Minnesota Court of Appeals Declares Test Refusal Statute Unconstitutional
The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the DWI conviction of a criminal defendant for refusing to submit to a urine test where police failed to obtain a search warrant. The Court held that Minnesota's test-refusal statute is unconstitutional when applied to suspects who are charged with refusal to submit to either a warrantless blood or urine test. The defendant in the case, Ryan Thompson, was stopped by police after bar closing for erratic driving and failed both the [...]
Expungement of a 5th Degree Drug Posession Controlled Substance Crime in MN
So at one time in your past you made a mistake; the police caught you with a felony amount of marijuana, cocaine, or methamphetamine. You were charged in Minnesota with the felony offense of Controlled Substance Crime in the Fifth Degree. You may have been convicted of the felony offense or plea bargained the case down to a Stay of Adjudiction. You served your sentence and have been discharged from probation. Now What? If the case resulted in a conviction, the [...]
Can the Police use My Confession Against Me?
The answer to this question depends on whether or not your confession was voluntary. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not allow the prosecution to use an involuntary confession against you at trial. When determining voluntariness, Minnesota courts look to see if the defendant's will was overborne at the time of the confession by the police through the use of coercion or manipulation. Other factors considered by the courts include the defendant's age, maturity, intelligence, education and ability to understand. Courts also look at the length of [...]
Marijuana Grow House Defense in MN
I recently defended a client who was charged with operating a marijuana grow house. Drug Task Force agents executed a narcotics search warrant at his home and discovered marijuana plants growing on all three levels. On the upper level of the home agents found 251 suspected marijuana starter plants in a walk-in closet. The plants ranged between 1.5 and 5.5 inches tall. On the main level agents discovered 70 suspected marijuana plants that were approximately 9 inches tall. In the basement agents found [...]
Anoka County Prostitution Sting
I recently defended two clients in Anoka County who were charged with misdemeanor prostitution. The stakes were high as both clients had green cards and a conviction would jeopardize their chances of becoming U.S. citizens. The Coon Rapids Police Department designed an online ad to capture the attention of men interested in paying money for sex. The ad was posted on Back Pages and included the catch phrases "Ring Tia's Bell" and "I'm a freak between the sheets. " The ad even required a promise that anyone [...]
Charged with a Crime in MN while on the Delayed Entry Program?
Don't give up. You can still ship out on time with the right criminal defense strategy. The secret here is to study the regulations for your branch of the armed services and determine what crimes will trigger the need for a "waiver" from your commanding officer. You do not want to be convicted of a crime that requires a waiver as you may not qualify for a waiver and your dream of serving your country will come to a screeching [...]
The Role of the Confidential Informant in a Controlled Drug Buy
The informant plays a valuable role in a successful Minnesota drug bust. The informant could be a first time citizen informant with no criminal history performing his civic duty. This type of informant is presumed by the courts to be reliable. The informant could be a confidential informant known as a CI who has connections to the criminal underworld. This informant is not presumed to be reliable and is often either paid by the police for his information or has been promised a favorable [...]
Police Serve a Void Search Warrant
I recently represented a client who was charged in Anoka County District Court with 5th Degree Controlled Substance crime. Police officers executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence eleven days after the warrant was issued by the court. Officers located a felony amount of marijuana in his bedroom. The law in Minnesota regarding the execution and return of search warrants is found in Minn. Stat. §626.15(a) which provides as follows: “Except as provided in paragraph [...]
Computer Search Warrants in Minnesota
Let's say that as a part of an ongoing investigation into suspected drug dealing, the police have obtained a search warrant for your computer. The search warrant gives the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension permission to search your computer for "photographs, internet searches, communications including but not limited to emails, videos, stored data, and any and all data on a hard drive." During the course of the search, the investigator discovers evidence of an unrelated crime such [...]
Free Yourself from your Past with an Expungement
You are now able to petition the court to expunge from your record petty misdemeanor convictions, misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor convictions, and certain felony convictions. The expungement law in Minnesota has been amended to allow for a more complete remedy. Now you can seal from public view not only the courthouse file containing all the dreaded facts regarding your criminal case, but all records maintained by the arresting agency and the BCA! The new statute imposes a mandatory waiting [...]
Sex Trafficking Law in Minnesota
Sex trafficking is a serious felony offense under Minnesota law and is as: (a) receiving, recruiting, enticing, harboring, providing, or obtaining by any means an individual to aid in the prostitution of the individual; or (2) receiving profit or anything of value, knowing or having reason to know it is derived from an act described in clause (1). First Degree Sex Trafficking crime involves a person who, acting other than as a john or a prostitute, intentionally [...]
Mortgage Fraud Defense
Mortgage fraud is a complex white collar crime and can involve obtaining mortgage loan proceeds by perpetrating such crimes as identity theft, forgeries, bank fraud, wire fraud, theft by swindle and racketeering. Oftentimes, fake identity documents are created for a straw buyer who is paid for his role in the scheme. The documents may falsely state his identity, income and liabilities in order to qualify for a mortgage loan. False identity documents are then passed along to [...]
How to Get Less Prison Time in a Minnesota Criminal Case
It is possible to reduce the amount of time you will spend in prison. You will need the right set of facts and circumstances to reach this goal. The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines establish the presumptive prison sentence in every serious felony case. The determination of the sentence is based on the severity level of the offense and your criminal history score. In order to avoid a presumptive prison sentence, a Minnesota criminal defense attorney will need to [...]
The Consent Defense in a Rape Case
Depending on how the case is charged out by the prosecution, the defense of consent may be available to criminal defendants charged with rape. Consent is defined under Minnesota law as a person's words or overt actions that indicate a freely given present agreement to perform a particular sexual act. Consent does not exist simply because of a prior or current social relationship between a defendant and the alleged victim. Consent also does not exist where the [...]
Minnesota’s New Expungement Law
Coming soon to a courthouse near you is a way to seal your criminal past. We have all made mistakes and fallen into trouble with the law. Now you have a chance to keep your future employer, landlord, friend, or relative from finding out about a prior conviction. On January 1, 2015, a new expungement law goes into effect in Minnesota. Under certain circumstances, you may qualify to file a petition to seal all records relating to [...]
