Criminal Defense

A MINNESOTA SECOND DEGREE DWI IS A VERY SERIOUS OFFENSE. You will almost certainly face jail time if convicted of a Minnesota Second Degree DWI. You can end up facing a 2nd Degree DWI charge in Minnesota under a variety of circumstances. A driver will be charged with a 2nd Degree DWI in Minnesota on a first-time DWI offense if the driver’s...

A proposal for a new Minnesota Revenge porn law has gained momentum ever since the Court of Appeals declared Minnesota’s criminal defamation law unconstitutional. Rep. John Lesch presented a proposed version of a Minnesota revenge porn law at the first legislative working group back on June 25.   The proposed Minnesota law is taken directly from the current Illinois revenge porn law.  Certain...

We’d like to tell you about a recent client we represented who was charged with felony criminal vehicular operation. First off, a little background on Minnesota’s Criminal Vehicular Operation (CVO) laws. Minnesota’s Criminal Vehicular Operation Laws Criminal Vehicular Operation is found in Minnesota Statute 609.2113. The offense can be charged as either a gross misdemeanor or a felony. The severity of a CVO...

Even After the Fines and License Suspension, You’re Not Done Paying In the past we have discussed the different penalties (both criminal penalties and the driver’s license suspension) for a DWI conviction. There are four distinct levels or “degrees” to a DWI charge in Minnesota which you can read about at the links below: Fourth Degree DWI Penalties in...

St. Paul DUI & DWI Defense Attorney With the holiday season upon us, there are two things we can count on: parties where drinks will be flowing freely, and increased DWI enforcement.  If you find yourself pulled over after having a few drinks and are arrested for DWI, talk to the St. Paul attorneys at Arechigo & Stokka in a free...

Vehicle Searches Incident to Arrest As previously discussed, police officers need a search warrant anytime they want to search a motor vehicle. Warrantless vehicle searches in Minnesota are presumed to be unconstitutional. However, there are several exceptions to this rule. One exception is known as the search incident to arrest exception. In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court Established a...

Wondering About a DWI on an Electric Scooter? Vodka tonic with a lime….scooter?  If you live or work in downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul, you’ve likely seen the Lime scooters or Bird scooters. They started popping up a couple of months ago.  The Lime and Bird scooters have become popular offering quick, easy mobility throughout downtown. Easily accessed by...

In order to lawfully stop a motor vehicle in Minnesota, a police officer must have reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or is being committed. This rule of law is taken from the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Pike. The police officer must be able to point to and articulate specific facts that support a reasonable suspicion...

The Court of Appeals just declared the Minnesota DWI Refusal law unconstitutional. In State v. Trahan, the Court explained that charging a motorist with refusing to submit to a blood draw for purposes of testing alcohol concentration is unconstitutional if the police did not have a search warrant.  This issue had sort of been addressed by the Court in recent years,...

Are Public Tweets Free Speech Protected By The First Amendment? This is the issue that we will take up in front of the Minnesota Supreme Court later this year. Our client has been charged and convicted of the criminal offenses of Stalking and Harassment for posting a series of public tweets mentioning another Twitter user.  We previously argued the charges...