The Minnesota Court of Appeals held today that the DWI forfeiture statute is unconstitutional because the statute does not provide for a prompt hearing! The Minnesota DWI Forfeiture Statute § 169A.63, subd. 9(d) states: “A judicial determination under this subdivision must be held at the earliest practicable date, and in any event no later than… Read more »
St. Patrick’s Day DWI Arrests in Minnesota Double Over Last Year!
Minnesota Star Tribune reports today law enforcement made 370 Minnesota DWI arrests over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. The Minnesota DWI arrests were made between 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Sunday. The number of Minnesota DWI arrests for this year’s holiday were more than double the arrests made last year when 175 Minnesota drivers… Read more »
Minnesota Supreme Court Rules That Insurance Proceeds From A Seized Vehicle Are Not Subject To Forfeiture!
On February 14, 2018, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that the insurance proceeds from a wrecked vehicle are not subject to forfeiture even if the vehicle itself is subject to forfeiture. In the case of Briles v. One 2003 GMC, the son of Mr. Briles was operating the 2003 GMC vehicle when he was involved… Read more »
Court Rules DWI Blood Or Urine Tests Inadmissible
In the published case of State v. Hunn, 899 N.W.2d 541, Minn.App., June 19, 2017, review granted in part (Sep 19, 2017), the Court of Appeals indicated that blood or urine tests are inadmissible in some cases. The Court held that there is no pre-test right to counsel when the police fail to read the… Read more »
The Minnesota Supreme Court Rules That Not All Hazardous Substances Violate the Minnesota DWI Law!
Minnesota DWI Lawyer F. T. Sessoms writes that the Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Carson (Decided October 11, 2017, Minnesota Supreme Court) which stands for the proposition that if a dangerous substance is not listed as a “hazardous substance” in the DWI statute, a person under the influence of the substance… Read more »
Driver Charged With Killing Police Officer Had Cocaine In Her System.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reports today that the woman accused of hitting and killing a Wayzata police officer with her car had cocaine in her system at the time of the accident. Beth Freeman is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide as the result of the September accident which killed Wayzata Police Officer… Read more »
The Minnesota DWI Forfeiture Statute is Unconstitutional! Let Me Show You How To Get your Car Back!!
If you have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI and your vehicle is being held for forfeiture, do not despair as I can get your vehicle back even if you are eventually convicted of the “qualifying DWI offense”!! How you ask? Well, I figured out how the Minnesota DWI vehicle forfeiture statute violates procedural due… Read more »
Unethical Bail Bond Companies Can No Longer Cold-Call The Relatives Of A Defendant!
Some unethical bail bond companies would make it a practice to obtain the list of persons under arrest and at the local jail. The bail company would then cold-call members of the arrested person’s family informing the family of the arrest. These companies would tell the relative that they should hire X lawyer (i.e. their… Read more »
Over 2500 DWI Arrests Were Made Over The Holidays!
Law enforcement officers arrested 2,502 people in Minnesota for DWI between Thanksgiving and New Year’s day, according to a report in today’s Star Tribune. The sweep included the arrest of a 29 year-old woman who has managed to rack up seven dwi arrests within the past 10 years (Well done, indeed!). According to the Tribune,… Read more »
Extra DWI Patrols Over The Holidays
The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office will be putting extra DWI patrols on the road throughout the holidays until January 2, 2016. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety also reports that extra police patrols will be done statewide. Christmas is the second-deadliest holiday for drunk-driving fatalities and with that in mind,… Read more »