Technology has opened up new ways for unlawful enterprises in the ever-changing environment of crime, and the drug trade is no different. The emergence of cyber drug offenses in the digital era has added a new dimension to the worldwide drug problem, complicating law enforcement and creating public safety concerns. This blog investigates the problem [...]
Minnesota, like numerous other states, criminalizes not just the possession of illegal narcotics such as heroin, cocaine, and other banned substances, but also punishes people who sell the chemicals necessary to make them. Here are the five essential things about Drug crime you need to know if you live in the state. Illegal drugs in [...]
Let's assume you are a heroin dealer and just made arrangements to sell to a buyer. The arrangements were made using your cell phone. Let's also assume the buyer is a confidential reliable informant (CRI). A controlled buy occurs while you are under surveillance and, after the sale, the CRI delivers the suspected heroin to [...]
If you have been charged with a drug or alcohol criminal offense in Minnesota, seeking out prompt treatment with the right provider can make the difference between going to prison or jail and staying free. I have represented many clients over 36 years in practice as a Minnesota criminal defense attorney who have been [...]
Snitching for the police has always been dangerous business. Police are very interested in climbing up the drug dealer food chain. They want to know who you bought your drugs from and who else you may know that sells drugs. They want the big fish, not the small time dealer. Soon after your arrest, an [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
