Some people will do whatever a police officer asks them to do. Many of us are trained to obey authority and will cooperate by any means possible. How dare we be labeled as disobedient. Others, are a little more skeptical as distrust of authority and law enforcement can run deep. Some neither want to be…
In the land of 10,000 lakes, it is a staple of most summers to spend some time out on the water. Whether by boat, jet ski, or other watercraft, many Minnesotans will venture out into one of our majestic lakes or rivers during the boating months of May to October. Getting out on the water…
The Minnesota legislature was active this session passing a wide variety of new DWI laws. They go into effect statewide this Saturday, July 1st, 2017. Some changes are in response to the new landscape under Birchfield[1] and some are laws that failed to pass last year. As expected, Minnesota Implied Consent Advisory is changing to…
We all know driving under the influence is a crime. But what exactly does the law say on the subject? Minnesota law prohibits people from driving when under the influence of three things. Two are well known: alcohol and controlled substances. However, what might be less known, is that Minnesota law also prohibits people from…
On Monday, the Minnesota Court of Appeals decided Tyler Lee Johnson v. Commissioner of Public Safety. The opinion touches upon a number of different issues surrounding implied consent law, but it can be summed up succinctly with the following: if the police say you can lose your license for refusing a warrantless blood or urine…
Minnesota drivers used to face serious criminal penalties for refusing a blood or urine test after being read the Minnesota Implied Consent Advisory in DWI cases. As previously discussed,[1] this is no longer the case according to both the United States Supreme Court and the Minnesota Supreme Court. So, will DWI laws adapt and change…
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that it is unconstitutional to charge someone with refusing to submit to a urine test in a DWI case in State v. Thompson. The decision came the same day as the court’s decision in State v. Trahan[1] which ruled that it is also unconstitutional to charge someone with refusing…
First of all, what happens to my driver’s license if I get a DWI? Short answer: it gets revoked – you lose it.[1] Lawyer’s answer: it depends. It depends on whether it is a first-time offense; whether your alcohol concentration was between .08 and .15 or .16 or more; whether you had a controlled substance…
This week, the Minnesota Supreme Court continued Its barrage against Fourth Amendment protections. In State v. Fawcett, Justice Gildea wrote for the majority (4-3) in a holding that allows police officers to search for evidence of controlled substances in a person’s blood after it was analyzed for evidence of alcohol despite a lack of probable…
As the dust settles on the United States Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) decision in Bernard v. Minnesota, what happens to DWI cases in Minnesota? The answer mainly depends on what type of test the driver took or refused to take. Breath Tests SCOTUS gave Its stamp of approval on Minnesota’s DWI Refusal law as it applies…