A recent Minnesota Court of Appeals case, Hagerman v. Minnesota, reversed a DWI test refusal conviction for being unconstitutional! The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. In the DWI context, administering a chemical test via breath, blood, or urine is a search. For a chemical test to be valid, police must either obtain a warrant or the test...
Yes, you can be charged with a DWI while sleeping in your parked car. Per Minnesota DWI Statute, it is a crime for any person to drive, operate, or be in physical control of any motor vehicle while under the influence. Being in "physical control" of the vehicle only requires you to be within proximity of the vehicle controls and...
You may have noticed somebody driving a vehicle that has a license plate that looks different than the typical Minnesota license plate. Rather than loons or some other outdoor scene, these plates are plain black-and-white and many times start with the letter W. You may wonder why they have these plates. The answer is that they likely have these special...
Vehicle forfeiture occurs when a vehicle is used to commit a criminal act, such as driving while intoxicated (DWI). According to Minnesota Statute § 169A.63, in certain DWI cases, the police have the authority to seize and forfeit the vehicle used to commit the criminal act. If the owner does not recover their vehicle, the police have the right to...
Under Minnesota Law, being charged with a DWI can result in multiple legal penalties, including drivers license revocation and vehicle forfeiture. However, there is a statutory exception that provides for a release of your vehicle with enrollment in the ignition interlock program. What steps must be taken before the vehicle will be released? Before getting your vehicle back, there are...
With winter temperatures and snow accumulating across the state of Minnesota, snowmobile and ice fishing season is underway. Getting a DWI can affect both your driver’s license and your ability to lawfully operate a recreational vehicle, such as a snowmobile, but also an ATV or boat. While driving under the influence of alcohol (DWI) has been a crime for quite...
Halloween festivities have been a long-standing tradition in America since the later part of the 19th Century. Adults, teens, and children alike dress in costumes, trick-or-treat, carve jack-o-lanterns, tell ghost stories, and eat sweet treats. Yet, parties and pranks are not the only mischiefs occurring during the night of “All-Hallows-Eve.” While approximately 175 million Americans celebrate Halloween night, crime rates...
Effective as of August 1, 2019, a few changes have been applied to the DWI statute. The law has historically been that a person who violates §169A.20, the DWI statute, is guilty of a first-degree DWI if that person: (1) commits the violation within ten years of the first of three-or-more prior DWI incidents; (2) has been previously convicted of...
As of August 1, 2019, a handful of new criminal laws went into effect in Minnesota. Below is a shortlist to keep you in the loop: Hands Free: Holding your phone while driving is a crime, unless required for obtaining emergency assistance, if there is a threat to life and safety, or in an authorized emergency vehicle performing official duties....
Nationally, roadblocks are legal. The United State Supreme Court ruled that it is not unconstitutional for a roadblock to check for sobriety or to ask questions to the general public in response to a crime. However, temporary roadblocks to stop cars and investigate a larger number of drivers in the hope of discovering alcohol-impaired driving violates Minnesota’s constitution (Min. Const....
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