POSITION OF POWER: Officer v. “Reasonable Person”
Police Officer use of force is an ever-growing topic of discussion in today’s society. The news and social media have allowed people to not only hear about, but actually see, videos where force, even deadly force, is used.
The take away, whether you agree with the officer’s actions or not, is tha…
Read MorePolice Use Coercive Tactics to Secure Drug Informants
A common technique for law enforcement is to use low-level drug offenders as “CIs” or confidential informants to help catch higher level drug dealers and suppliers. Often these cases involve a non-violent offender with little to no criminal history who gets caught with a felony amount of drugs. …
Read MoreBail: Misuse Leads to Coerced Guilty Pleas
Every person arrested faces the potential that they will have to pay some sort of amount of money in order to gain their freedom during the course of their ciminal case. If a person cannot pay their bail, or cannot come up with the money to pay a bail bondsman to pay their bail for them, they …
Read MoreIt’s All Hearsay…or Is It?
It’s All Hearsay! They don’t have anything.
I often hear a client or potential client tell me that the police or prosecutor don’t have any evidence against them. “All they have is hearsay.”
But what is hearsay really? Typical cases where hearsay is an issue are the ones where it is a “He said,…
Read MoreYou hear it on TV and in the movies, “You have the right to remain silent…” But what does it mean?
On more than one occasion, I have spoken to someone who tells me, “ They didn’t read me Miranda when they arrested me.” They think that this means that the arrest was bad and that the case will get thrown out. But, the Mirandawarning you hear on TV and in the movies has no…
Read MoreIllegal to Refuse a Warrantless Search
State v. Bernard – Much Awaited…VERY Disappointing.
This morning, the Minnesota Supreme Court released its opinion in the much anticipated case of State v. Bernard. Many were hoping that the court would finally sort out the mess that has ensued in Minnesota courts since the releas…
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