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A PROBABLE CAUSE SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE IS YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A LAWFUL WARRANTLESS VEHICLE SEARCH. If the police have probable cause to believe that contraband or other evidence of a crime is hidden somewhere in a vehicle, the officer may conduct a warrantless vehicle search.   This probable cause warrant exception authorizes a search of every part of the vehicle that could...

Under Minnesota workers’ compensation law, depression that results from a work injury may be compensable in certain cases. Minnesota workers’ compensation law divides “mental injuries” such as depression into certain categories: 1. Mental Physical Cases: This occurs when work comp depression produces a physical ailment. This is likely not a situation where the issue of depression will arise, but...

To serve and protect?  Isn’t that the credo most police officers swear to abide by?  Perhaps Duluth police officer Richard Jouppi didn’t get the memo. Or perhaps he failed the ethics portion of police academy training. Granted, we don’t know everything that happened prior to the man’s arrest, he did threaten to throw his jacket at the woman in...

Many employers in Minnesota require their employee to travel in their vehicle as part of their job. The issue of whether an employee’s motor vehicle insurance or workers’ compensation insurance covers the injuries can become an issue.   As with any injury, it must first be decided whether the injury arose in the course and scope of employment. However,...

ANOTHER EXCEPTION TO THE SEARCH WARRANT REQUIREMENT IN THE MOTOR VEHICLE CONTEXT IS KNOWN AS A WEAPONS SEARCH EXCEPTION. The weapons search exception allows a police officer to conduct a limited pat-down search of a suspect’s outer clothing without a search warrant in order to find dangerous weapons that might be used against the officer during the traffic stop. There...

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that police need a search warrant to test a driver’s blood alcohol content following a DUI arrest. Missouri v. McNeely refuted the state’s argument that the body’s natural elimination of alcohol creates an automatic exception to the warrant requirement.   Before this decision, police officers got around the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement by arguing...

WHETHER YOU NEED A ST. PAUL CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER FOLLOWING A RECENT ARREST MAY DEPEND ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE POLICE ENCOUNTER. Minnesota police officers have a limited right to approach a stopped vehicle in public. An officer does not seize a driver under the law if the officer approaches an already stopped vehicle and simply asks the driver for his...

VEHICLE SEARCHES IN PLAIN VIEW EXCEPTION Continuing the discussion on warrantless vehicle searches, the plain view exception also allows police officers to seize evidence of a crime that is in plain view or plain sight. As long as the police officer has a right to be in the position he is in when he views the contraband, the officer...

As noted in our earlier post, Minnesota police officers need reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before they can lawfully stop a motor vehicle within their jurisdiction. This is a very low standard. Police officers can stop a motor vehicle for the simplest of offenses, including driving on the shoulder and crossing the center line. But what if an officer conducts a...