License Plate Impoundment: How Does it Work in Minnesota? License plate impoundment can be confusing in Minnesota. Here is a quick guide you can use to determine if you or someone you know is in a situation where license plate impoundment might happen.When can plate impoundment happen?Under Minnesota law, the license plates of a vehicle may be impounded taken and destroyed) if a Gross Misdemeanor driving offense is committed.These offenses include:1.A first-time DWI with a chemical test result is 0.20 or more;

How to Stay Safe When Getting Pulled Over Many women – and men – have expressed concern about being pulled overby a police car at night in a location where there is no one else around and the safety concerns this type of situation holds, especially in light of the rash of police-impersonator crimes that were committed in 2004, which many of you may remember, and in light of the recent police beating that happened here in Minneapolis last month.

Anyone who’s been through the Bail process probably remembers wondering, “What’s the difference between conditional and unconditional release, what does it have to do with bail, and why can’t I just leave now?!” According to the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure, specifically Rule 6.02, anyone charged with an offense is released without bail, pending his or her first court appearance – usually called an arraignment or Rule 5 or 8 hearing.

In an unpublished opinion entitled State v. Berryhill from the Minnesota Appellate Court that came out this last Tuesday, August 4,2009, a big discussion was held about the difference between the appellant’s claim of “ineffective assistance of counsel” and something the Court called “trial strategy”. Sound a little scary? It is: Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are something that good lawyers and the courts take very seriously.

Last Thursday, on July 16, U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank published his opinion approving a settlement between the State of Minnesota and CMI, the Kentucky-based company that manufactures the Intoxilyzer 5000EN — the machine used by the state to administer breath tests to measure the blood alcohol concentration of suspected impaired drivers.

Minnesota’s recent seat belt law and last year’s text messaging ban expanded law enforcement officers’ authority to pull drivers over, because both laws are “primary enforcement,” laws, or laws that allow officers to pull drivers over for violating them, without requiring that there be another reason for the officer to stop the driver. The new “Click it or Ticket” law went into effect on June 9, 2009. It replaces the secondary enforcement seatbelt law that was in effect for over 20 years in Minnesota.

Anyone who has either experienced DUI or BWI charges, or who has had a friend or colleague experience DUI or BWI charges, probably wondered why were there two types of breath tests? The first breath test an individual facing DUI or BWI charges experiences is called the PBT — or preliminary breath test. Sometimes this is also referred to as the “portable breath test”, because it’s a hand-held unit that officers carry in their squad cars or boats and it’s administered on the road side

Whatever happened to that medical marijuana bill that was in the news this year? Did it ever get passed? Is marijuana legal now in Minnesota? The short answer is: No, marijuana is NOT legal to possess or use in the state of Minnesota, for any reason, at this time.The Minnesota State Legislature has adjourned for the session now, but before it did, the medical marijuana bill passed in the state Senate as SF 345, and in the House, as HF 655.

As the Minnesota state motto accurately states, we are a land of 10,000 lakes. As the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website states, “With nearly 900,000 registered boats, Minnesota is number one in boats per capita in the US. In fact, there is about one boat for every six people in the state.” And, with that many lakes and boats around, we Minnesotans sometimes like to be out in our boats on those lakes — especially when the forecast predicts a beautiful, sunny, 80-degree Fourth of July weekend.