"An appeals court has affirmed an $11 million jury award related to a Minnesota crash that killed three people and resulted in the wrongful imprisonment of a driver.
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Prosecutor agrees to dismissal of Fifth Degree Domestic Assault charges. Brent SCHAFER successfully negotiated a plea agreement that resulted in dismissal of all charges stemming from an altercation between siblings.
Prosecutor dismisses violation of Domestic No Contact Order. Brent S. SCHAFER recently obtained a dismissal of all charges filed against his client for an alleged violation of a Domestic No Contact Order. SCHAFER successfully argues that the order was technically invalid and unenforceable.
A Dakota County Judge Order the reinstatement of Client’s driving privileges after finding that driver’s right to obtain an additional test in a DWI case had been denied.
According to Minnesota Statute 169A.51 CHEMICAL TESTS FOR INTOXICATION, 7(b), "The person tested has the right to have someone of the person's own choosing administer a chemical test or tests in addition to...
Police were investigating an accident and observed the defendant's vehicle parked on the grass behind a private residence. Police ended up entering an old, dilapidated fish house in the yard, where they found the defendant. The Court finds that the defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the fish house, which was within the curtilage of the residence, and the State...
Defendant's vehicle was stopped for an obstructed license plate and the Trooper eventually asked direct questions about drugs and sought to obtain consent to search the vehicle, which consent was not given. The Trooper suspected a drug offense and got a canine to sniff around the vehicle. The canine alerted to drugs at a portion of the vehicle leading to the discovery of a bag containing...
Affirming a District Court order granting the defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge of DWI, the Court finds no error in the District Court’s finding that the defendant was seized when the trooper activated his emergency lights immediately after the defendant pulled away from the side of the road. State v. Wento (Ct. App. Unpubl.,...
During a traffic stop, the defendant, a passenger, admitted to the officer that he had marijuana. The defendant consented to a pat search, but the officer more thoroughly searched the defendant’s pockets. The Court finds that in spite of justification to conduct a pat frisk, that the search into the defendant’s pockets was not lawful. [Editor’s note: the...
A commercial vehicle inspector was inspecting the defendant’s commercial vehicle at a weigh station and thought, but was unsure whether he smelled the odor of marijuana in the vehicle. The inspector had only smelled marijuana twice during his training 9 years earlier. A narcotics dog was called to the scene and alerted to drugs.
The District Court suppressed the marijuana evidence...
A divided Minnesota Supreme Court today overturned a Court of Appeals ruling that using a drug-sniffing dog outside a person’s apartment without a warrant is a violation of Fourth Amendment rights. It was an apparent 3-to-2 vote.
A divided Minnesota Supreme Court today overturned a Court of Appeals ruling that using a drug-sniffing dog outside a person’s apartment without a warrant is...
Vehicle Search – Backpack
Police searched a motor vehicle for missing items stolen from a convenience store and all of the items that were believed to be missing were recovered. After the items were recovered, police searched a backpack found in the vehicle wherein drugs were found. The Court finds that the police lacked probable cause to continue searching the contents of the car once...
Brent S. Schafer recently received advanced level training, from the American Association of Premier DUI Attorneys, on Unconstitutional Fees In DUI Cases. Brent received training on a recent Court of Appeals Decision in Tennessee that administrative fees charged on blood draws are unconstitutional and violate due process.
Many areas of the Country have similar administrative fees on DUI...
Brent S. Schafer, Minnesota Criminal Defense Attorney, has joined Noticed©, an invitation-only service for distinguished professionals. Schafer has been chosen as a Distinguished Lawyer™ based on peer reviews and ratings, dozens of recognition, and accomplishments achieved throughout his career.
Schafer outshines others in his field due to his extensive educational background, numerous...
McLennan County, Texas, has filed a lawsuit against the country’s largest opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors. On Tuesday, county officials filed the lawsuit against Purdue, Johnson & Johnson, and a number of other pharmaceutical companies. As a result of the defendants marketing of the drugs, there have been a substantial number of overdose deaths across the county, says...
A man from Maine has been awarded $2 million after he suffered permanent damage to his hand during surgery following an incident in which his hand was crushed by a kayak. The 49-year-old man filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Bangor hand surgeon and Eastern Maine Medical Center over injuries he suffered during the surgery. As detailed in the complaint, the surgeon failed to...
Impeachment – Generic Felony Affirming defendant’s conviction of unlawful possession of a firearm, the Court finds no error in the District Court allowing the State to impeach the defendant with two felony convictions without referencing the nature of the felonies (sanitized convictions) with the same standard being applied to a prosecution witness. State v. Bares-Stewart
Prior False...
Inevitable Discovery
Police had a warrant to search an individual’s home and when they entered the bedroom, the person who was the subject of the warrant and the defendant in this case were present. Methamphetamine
was seen in the open and the defendant’s hands were on top of a purse that he had carried with him. The Court finds that the search of the purse was not authorized...
DataMaster Testing
Affirming defendant’s conviction of DWI-alcohol concentration, the Court finds that the District Court is permitted to take judicial notice of the fact that the Commissioner of Public Safety has approved the DataMaster breath testing instrument for use by law enforcement. State v. Norgaard
Urine Testing – Consent
The defendant was asked if he...
Corroboration of Accomplice
Affirming the defendant’s conviction for 1st degree robbery, the Court affirms a District Court finding that although a witness was an accomplice to a drug deal, he was not an accomplice to the actual robbery and therefore there was no legal requirement to corroborate the witness’s testimony. However, the Court finds that there was corroboration of the...
Pat-Search Justified
An officer observed a bag of marijuana protruding from defendant’s pocket and observed that defendant twice attempted to put his hands in his pants while handcuffed. The Court finds that this conduct provided a reasonable, articulable suspicion that defendant was engaging in criminal activity and a reasonable belief that he was armed and dangerous. The pat-search...
Expansion of the Stop - The Court finds that observations of an officer that the petitioner smelled of alcohol combined with the observation that defendant’s eyes were glossy and watery provided a reasonable suspicion justifying expansion of the stop to a DWI investigation. McIntyre v. Commissioner
Restricting Argument – Fuel Cell - The Court finds that any error in the District...
A CRI informed police def was selling meth out of an apartment. The apartment is secured but building management has a lock box outside with key for police to gain entry. Police used that key to get into the apartment with a narcotics detection dog. FIDO gave a positive alert outside def’s apartment door. Police used this info to get a nighttime no knock warrant to search def’s...
Private Detention
Affirming defendant's conviction of 3rd degree DWI, the Court finds that where defendant was detained by private security officers and then a police officer approached defendant, there was no unconstitutional seizure because the private actions of the security officers did not constitute a constitutional violation and the police officer had a valid basis to detain by the...
A Dakota County Judge recently ordered the Department of Public Safety to return the driving privileges to Mr. Schafer’s client after the court found the arresting officer illegally entered Schafer’s client’s garage. The arresting officer entered the client’s garage to investigate the report of a possible drunk driver. The officer neither witnessed Schafer’s client driving...
A Dakota County Judge recently dismissed a prostitution charges that was waged against Mr. Schafer’s client after his client was accused of improperly touching an uncover police officer during a message. The court held that despite numerous request for sexual services by the undercover officer, Schafer’s client “repeatedly refused to perform the requested sexual acts.” The...
