Date: May 2021
Case: DWI and Felony Fleeing
Attorney: Nicole A. Kettwick
Result: Nicole’s client faced Felony Fleeing and Gross Misdemeanor DWI charges after she was pulled over in Aitkin County for going over 100 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. The State charged her with felony fleeing in a motor vehicle and DWI. After a blood test showed she did not have any alcohol or controlled substances in her system, Nicole filed a motion to dismiss the DWI, which the Court granted. Nicole’s client was still facing a felony fleeing charge. Nicole, her client and family helped gather information to show some proactive steps she took since the incident and discussed the legal challenges in the case with the prosecutor. Nicole was able to negotiate the Felony Fleeing charge down to Misdemeanor Speeding with only one year of probation and no jail time. This resolution allowed Nicoles’s client to get back on her feet and avoid a felony conviction on her record and she was able to get her vehicle returned to her.
Date: May 2021
Case: Gross Misdemeanor DWI & Carrying a Pistol Under the Influence
Attorney: Michael J. Brandt
Result: Mike Brandt represented a client in Sherburne County on a Gross Misdemeanor Third Degree DWI & a Misdemeanor Carrying a Pistol While Under the Influence. After effective negotiations, Mike was able to obtain a plea agreement that resulted in the dismissal of the Carrying a Pistol charge and his client avoided serving any jail time on the DWI charge.
Date: April 2021
Case: DWI and Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance
Attorney: Nicole A. Kettwick
Result: Nicole’s client was pulled over by the police after driving home from work late one night in Anoka County. Upon her arrest for a DWI, the officers searched her car and found marijuana brownies and prescription medications for someone else. Nicole’s client then faced Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance and Gross Misdemeanor DWI charges. As Nicole’s client had a family and risked losing time with her daughter with these charges, Nicole challenged the legality of the stop of her client’s car. After a judge ruled that the stop by the police violated Nicole’s client’s 4th amendment rights, all the evidence after the stop was inadmissible for the coming trial. This led the prosecutor to dismiss all the charges and allowed Nicole’s client to move on from this tough time in her life without a conviction on her record. She also filed an Implied Consent Challenge/Petition for judicial review after the State revoked her driver’s license. Nicole ultimately won this case on the same issue and her client avoided a DWI on her driving record and she was able to get her license back.
Date: April 2021
Case: Third Degree DWI
Attorney: Mike Brandt
Result: Mike’s client was charged with Third Degree DWI and his driving privileges were also revoked for 1 year as a result of testing over twice the legal limit. Mike challenged the seizure of his client and argued that it was illegal and that the evidence should be suppressed. The Judge ultimately agreed with Mike’s arguments, suppressed the evidence, and dismissed the charges. After this, Mike challenged the revocation of his client’s license in civil court and also won a rescission of his client’s driving privileges.
Date: March 2021
Case: Third Degree DWI & Child Endangerment
Attorney: Mike Brandt
Result: Mike’s client faced gross misdemeanor charges of child endangerment and a gross misdemeanor DWI. Initially, Mike challenged whether or not his client was illegally arrested. Even though the judge denied Mike’s motion, he ultimately was able to negotiate a resolution with the prosecutor. Based on Mike’s discussions, the prosecutor agreed to dismiss both the gross misdemeanor DWI and the child endangerment charges. Mike’s client pled to a lower level misdemeanor DWI and was placed on probation for 2 years.
Date: March 2021
Case: Third Degree DWI (test refusal)
Attorney: Mike Brandt
Result: Mike’s client was charged with a gross misdemeanor third degree DWI after crashing his car while impaired and refusing to take the breath test at the station. After reviewing the State’s evidence and helping his client take proactive steps following the incident, Mike resolved the case where Mike’s client pled to a third degree DWI, but the Court lowered the sentence to a misdemeanor. As part of this agreement, Mike’s client was placed on unsupervised probation for 2 years and avoided any jail time.
Date: March 2021
Case: Third Degree DWI
Attorney: Mike Brandt
Result: After reviewing the evidence in the case, Mike challenged the initial seizure of his client and brought a motion to suppress any evidence recovered from the initial seizure of his client. Mike also moved for the case to be dismissed for lack of probable cause. The Judge granted Mike’s motion to suppress the blood test taken from his client. Due to the suppression of evidence, the State lacked a strong case and decided to dismiss the case altogether.
Date: January 2021
Case: 3rd Degree DWI
Attorney: Michael J. Brandt
Result: Mike’s client was originally charged with a Gross Misdemeanor 3rd Degree DWI. Through negotiations, Mike was able to reach a resolution with the prosecutor where his client pled to a Misdemeanor 4th Degree DWI and the 3rd Degree DWI was dismissed. Instead of serving any jail time, Mike’s client was placed on unsupervised probation for 2 years and had to pay a small fine.
Date: January, 2021
Case: 2nd Degree DWI
Attorney: Michael J. Brandt
Result: Mike’s client was charged with a Gross Misdemeanor Second Degree DWI. Because of the charge, Mike’s client’s license was revoked for 2 years and the client’s vehicle was forfeited. However, after reviewing the State’s evidence, Mike determined that the police officer lacked reasonable articulable suspicion to pull his client over (AKA the officer illegally pulled Mike’s client over). Mike proceeded by drafting a motion and memorandum to the court asking the court to dismiss the charges because his client was illegally stopped by the police officer. The Judge ruled in favor of Mike’s client and dismissed all the charges against Mike’s client. Additionally, Mike challenged the revocation of his client’s license in civil court arguing that his client’s driving privileges, which were revoked at the time of the incident, should be given back to his client. The Judge ruled in Mike’s client’s favor on this issue as well and Mike restored his client’s driving privileges.
Because the criminal charges were dismissed, the State also dropped the forfeiture proceedings against Mike’s client and returned the vehicle to Mike’s client.
Date: December 2020
Case: DWI and Carrying a Pistol While Under the Influence of Alcohol
Attorney: Michael J. Brandt
Result: Mike’s client was charged with Fourth Degree DWI and Carrying a Pistol While Under the Influence. These charges stemmed from an incident occurring in Hennepin County in February of 2020. Based upon legal issues that Mike raised, Mike was able to negotiate a resolution where the DWI charge was dismissed and his client received a Stay of Adjudication on the pistol charge. This means that his client plead to the Carrying a Pistol charge but the judge did not convict the client of this. Mike’s client was placed on unsupervised probation for 1 year. When the client successfully completes probation, the remaining charge will also be dismissed. As part of the negotiations, the prosecutor agreed to the expungement of these records once Mike’s client is eligible.