Selling Simulated Substances Is a Felony Crime in Minnesota

 

Felony Criminal Charges For Selling Simulated Controlled Substanses

 Selling simulated controlled substances in Minnesota is a felony offense.  A recent client of ours was charged with this drug crime.  Often the people charged with this crime are unaware of the seriousness of selling something that is not a drug, representing that it is a drug.

 

 

Aspirin - Legal until sold as a Controlled Substance

Illegal Ecstasy Pills

For example, in my recent case, my client was charged in Redwood County.  An undercover officer from the Drug Task Force contacted my client, seeking to buy Ecstasy. My client declined to do so initially, but the undercover officer continued to pressure my client.  So my client caved in, and agreed to sell him Aspirin that looked like Ecstasy pills. The undercover agent knew that the pills were fake Ecstasy, but agreed to buy them anyway.

   Under Minnesota Statute Section 152.092 selling a substance representing it as an illegal drug, even though it is not, is a serious felony offense.

  Fortunately for my client, there are good defenses available suitable for the specific facts of his case.

 If you have been charged with a Minnesota drug related crime, please call criminal defense attorney john Scott at 612-840-8961, or visit my website.  Come back and visit my blog for more criminal defense information.

 

 

 

Legal Consequences for the College Student Auctioning off Her Virginity

The case of the college woman who is auctioning off her virginity in order to pay for college has captured recent headlines. Yes, college is expensive.  And according to the news these days, Natalie Dylan, 22, is auctioning off her virginity to the highest bidder to pay for her college education.  And she’s had quite a few bidders, according to her.

From the perspective of a Minnesota criminal defense attorney, there are a few legal issues with this. If this were a Minnesota college student, the most obvious law she would be breaking is the crime of solicitation, which is a felony. Even if the sexual act itself occurs at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada, if she resided within for example, Hennepin County in the State of Minnesota when she posted the ad on the internet is enough to bring charges of solicitation.

 

If she would be convicted of a felony or felonies, and her ultimate goal is working as a Marital & Family therapist, there are guidelines to licensing with the State of Minnesota that could bar the convicted felon from practicing in that field.

If you have any questions regarding the law, give John Scott a call 612-840-8961 or visit our website.

An Alford Plea-Not Necessarily the Best Defense –Criminal Defense Attorney in Minnesota

You Have Been Told To Take An Alford Plea, Should You?

You find yourself in a predicament where you are faced with charges.  Maybe you are guilty of one charge, but not the other.  You are offered a plea for both.  Maybe it is a good deal for the one, but not really for the other.  Should you take an Alford plea for the one charge you didn’t do?

What is an Alford Plea exactly?  An Alford Plea is a plea in criminal court in which the defendant does not admit the act and asserts innocence, but admits that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find the defendant guilty.  Upon receiving an Alford plea from a defendant, the court may immediately pronounce the defendant guilty and impose sentence as if the defendant had otherwise been convicted of the crime.  It is basically the same as a guilty plea, and is treated as such by all parties, except-the defendant, who is proclaiming their innocence. 

If you find yourself in a situation like this, or you need council in your court proceedings, call me John Scott at 612-840-8961, or visit our website.

 

 

 

 

What Your Automobile Is Worth If It Is “Totaled Out” By Insurance Companies In MN.

Your Vehicle Is Totaled After An Accident, Now What?

 

You’ve just been in an accident, and after accessing the injuries you now have to deal with the insurance companies in Minnesota.  The insurance company says your vehicle “Is Totaled”.  Does that mean that you are getting a new car?  Not likely, but only money “for” a new car.  The Insurance companies don’t give the new car price, so what do you do about that?

 

One service that I provide to clients is pursuing insurance claims for property loss that occurred during a motor vehicle accident. I experience quite frequently lately that clients call me questioning the amount of money that an insurance company is willing to pay for a vehicle that is “totaled out”. The basic rule is fair market value, so instead of “blue book” or NADA values, insurance companies are using newspaper ads for comparable cars, which are often cheaper than other methods.

 

If you or your loved ones are experiencing this, and you would like some guidance on what to do, or if you have a question concerning a total vehicle loss claim in Minnesota, please call Attorney John Scott at 612-840-8961, or visit our firm’s website.

 

 

 

 

Criminal Vehicular Operation: Proving the Elements

Criminal vehicular injury “CVO” is a Minnesota criminal offense that usually accompanies a DWI charge where someone has gotten hurt in a collision. There are several ways for a Minnesota attorney to defend a CVO charge.

If the BAC of the defendant is not over .08, the State has to prove driver negligence cased the collision. In one case I handled in Hennepin County, I represented a driver who had struck a little boy that had darted into traffic from between two parked cars, directly into my client’s lane of travel. A necessary element that the state had to prove in that case was that the driver was negligent and caused of the collision.

In this case, we hired an accident reconstructionist to provide an opinion that the collision would have occurred even if my client had been completely sober. The opinion was supported by fact witnesses who saw the collision and were able to provide the time, distance and speed facts necessary. In essence, my client was driving within the speed limit and staying within his lane of travel. Keeping a proper lookout and his reaction were not factors in the cause of the collision. The boy had darted into traffic too close to my client’s vehicle for him to react in time to stop.

This was an important step in his defense. We were able to get the felony CVO charges dismissed because the State was unable to prove every element of the offense. My client pled guilty to a misdemeanor DWI. As a Minnesota criminal defense attorney, I believe in making the State prove every element of the crime necessary.

If you have any questions concerning a criminal charge in Minnesota, please call me or visit my website.

John Scott, 612-840-8961

Undercover Agents and Consent to Search

An attorney friend of mine introduced me to an interesting challenge in criminal cases involving confidential informants, undercover agents, and controlled buys of controlled substances. As everyone knows, the police cannot enter a home without permission, or conduct a warrantless search of a home without consent of the residents. There are exceptions of course.

 

But what if an accused person consents to an undercover agent entering the home, without knowing that the undercover agent is working for the police? In that situation, it should be the argument of a good criminal defense attorney that the undercover agent is a government agent, and that consent for the government to enter the home is not valid. As a result, all of the information obtained by the undercover agent, including the controlled substances purchased, should be excluded from evidence.

 

There are no Minnesota court decisions in cases that apply to this scenario. While this scenario has applied to a few of our clients in Anoka County and Hennepin County, usually acceptable pleas have been reached before our clients could test the Court of Appeals with these facts.

 

If you have questions about drug charged, please contact me today. To learn more about our law firm, please visit our firm’s website.

 

-John Scott

Direct: 6122-840-8961

Minnesota DWI charges with a .07 BAC

In Minnesota, the legal drinking limit is .08. What that means is that if your blood alcohol is .08 or higher, you are legally intoxicated. I recently had a client with a blood alcohol concentration of .07, and she was charged with DWI.

In a case where the blood alcohol is .07, the state cannot offer the blood test to prove you are driving while intoxicated. The State at trial will rely on the police officer that made the arrest to testify as to illegall driving conduct, such as speed, crossing over fog and center lines, not using a turn signal, and his observations during the stop and the arest – blood shot eyes, slurred speech, unsteady on your feet. The state will also introduce any failed sobriety tests that the officer used.

In most of these cases, a plea bargain is available, but these cases are also very defensible. A colleague of mine taught me to use the arguement that driver arrested for DWI with a .07 BAC, “should get a thank you letter from the State. My client was responsible, and was not driving drunk.”

Whatever defense is suitable in your case, you should talk with a Minnesota DWI attorney prior to pleading guilty in your DWI case. Call Attorney John Scott for a consultation.

BWI: Boating While Intoxicated In MN

In the summer time, it is important that boaters remember that Minnesota’s DWI laws apply to boats as well. If you are operating a boat with a blood alcohol level over .08, you will be charged with BWI (boating while intoxicated).

 

Since it is usually a DNR agent that makes the stop and arrest, I am often asked if a DNR agent can give a person for a ticket for DWI. The answer is yes. Minnesota laws give authority to its DNR agents to enforce rules that pertain to Minnesota’s waterways, trails, and wildlife. So if a DNR agent is making a legal stop or investigation in the enforcement of those rules, the DNR agent does have authority to make an arrest.

 

People with a driver’s license restricting them from drinking alcohol (commonly known as the B-card), who drink alcohol on a boat can lose their driver’s license as a result of violating the restriction. This is important to remember because the rules pertaining to stops by DNR agents on the waterways are much more lax than rules applying to policemen on Minnesota roads.

 

As Minnesotans enjoy the summer on Minnesota’s lakes and waterways, it is important to abide by the DNR’s rules for operating water craft. To review the Minnesota DNR boating rules and regulations, click here.

 

If you have legal questions concerning a Minnesota BWI or boating incident, please call.

 

-John Scott

612-840-8961

167 DWI Arrests in MN from Operation NightCAP March 2008

Operation NightCAP,is a public safety program developed by the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety that consists of twice monthly saturation patrols conducted by multi-jurisdictional law enforcement agencies in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) districts in greater Minnesota schedule their patrols to coincide with community events that have previously experienced impaired driving problems.

The MSP makes the execution of the program very visible to the public, and includes a mobile blood testing vehicle (a/k/a BATmobile), and public safety announcements.

The effect of the program is indeed measurable. For example, officers working Operation NightCAP made 167 arrests through the program in March, 2008, 125 of which were in the Twin Cities’ counties.

If you have a question concerning your DWI arrest, call our office to speak with an attorney today to discuss your case.

-John Scott, 612-840-8961

DWI charges and Whiskey Plates

Minnesota drivers with multiple DWI offenses may have to drive vehicles with special plates. These special plates are commonly known as whiskey plates. In Minnesota, the vehicle plates start with a ”W” or another letter at the end of the alphabet. The readily identified letters indicate to police officers that the owner of the vehicle has multiple DWI charges on his or her driving record.

For a good article describing Whiskey Plates from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, click here.

If you drive a vehicle with whiskey plates, chances are very good that you will be stopped at some point by a police officer. There are special exceptions to the usual search and seizure rules for vehicles that display Whiskey Plates.

If you have a question concerning a DWI charge or plate impoundment, please call Attorney John Scott at 612-840-8961.