Twin Cities Criminal Law Blog

Hiring for the upcoming holiday shopping season has begun in earnest. While actual numbers likely won’t be available for a month or so, it is possible for hundreds of thousands of temporary employees to be hired in the last months of 2016.

Even with Halloween being on a Monday night, it would not be surprising if a number of Halloween revelers will make it a long weekend. For an unfortunate group of people, they may wake up in jail on Tuesday morning, or with the memory of spending half the night being processed after being arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

While you may not see as many public service announcements about it, texting while driving is still a major problem in the Twin Cities. Even though Minnesota law bans the practice, it is no surprising to see motorists checking their phones while in traffic. Some may be following turn-by-turn directions, while others may want to check the score of a football game.

The popular parenting adage, “Do as I say, not as I do “ apparently does not resonate with teens when it comes to drinking and driving. A 2014 study published by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development found that teens who have driven with an intoxicated driver are much more likely to do it themselves.

Everyone who has been issued a citation or has been ordered to pay court costs (and fines) has been there. When you have to make a choice between paying rent or buying diapers for a child and paying court imposed fees, what do you choose? More likely than not, the choice is made to maintain the necessities in life (i.e. shelter, buying food, paying utilities). When this occurs, people in arrears run the risk of having warrants issued for their arrest.

As the summer draws to a close, many will celebrate it with their last vacation before the school season, which begins in earnest after Labor Day. With many holiday weekends, there will be an increased police presence to stem the number of drunk drivers on the road. When people are stopped on suspicion of DWI, an officer commonly asks the driver to perform a series of sobriety tests.

Cosmetologists, nail technicians, instructors and aestheticians are facing new rules that go into effect in mid-September. Salon owners, schools and individual cosmetologists who rely on their professional license to make a living can expect not only stricter guidelines, but greater scrutiny when the new rules take effect on September 13. State regulators have added more than 500 new rules, and are looking to increase the number of inspectors who drop in on salons to look for potential rule violations.

In our last post, we discussed how being unable to get out of jail may affect how people plead to crimes, even if there is a good chance that they would be found not guilty at trial. Essentially, the need to get out of jail may lead people to plea to lesser crimes, without knowing the future consequences of pleading guilty.

Being arrested and charged with a crime can be traumatizing. This much we know for sure. But for those who cannot afford to post bail and go free until their next hearing date (or trial) the odds of mounting a viable defense are certainly tougher. Indeed, people who sit in jail awaiting trial are at a significant disadvantage within the criminal justice system. This post will explain why.

Traffic stops can be less than pleasant, that much is for sure. During these times where police officers may fear for their lives over the potential of being assaulted, it is even more important to know what to say (and what not to say) when an officer approaches your window.