Minnesota DWI Defense Blog

Minnesota's breath test machines don't work like they are supposed to. Either the publications put out by the BCA are wrong, and their scientists don’t understand what it means to take an oath to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” or this machine is suffering from some significant malfunctions. And when we say “significant malfunctions,” we’re talking about fatal flaws in some of the necessary, critical scientific safeguards used to ensure the final results are valid, Read More

Veteran defense attorney Charles Ramsay has seen a lot in his years of defending clients. His years of experience, and track record of success, means that he's often called upon to comment on high-profile legal cases. The Star Tribune reached out to Chuck to find out about his opinion on whether those verdicts would survive an appeal -- here's what he had to say. Read More

No body of law is more fluid than the law on DWI cases. Sharon Osborn of the The Minnesota Society for Criminal Defense, the premiere DWI defense organization in the state, has assembled an all-star line-up presenting cutting edge issues and information for this year’s continuing legal education seminar on June 21, 2019. Read More

Travel across the border into Canada has always been tricky for anyone with a DWI conviction on their record. Over the years the Canadian government has tightened and loosened their restrictions, leaving a great deal of uncertainty for anyone wanting to travel across the border. Now, those restrictions have been tightened again -- and very strictly at that. Read More

Since before I graduated high school it's been a Minnesotan tradition (and undoubtedly a nationwide tradition as well) to hit the bars on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Some people are meeting up with friends they haven't seen for a year, others are starting Thanksgiving early with the "fun" relatives, and some are just building the solid hangover they intend to carry through the next day's turkey and stuffing meal. Read More

This is old news to our clients but new news to the public: Dan Koewler, who has been with Ramsay Law Firm since 2008, is now publicly a partner with Ramsay Law Firm! He has been integral to our growth and our successes since he first started out as an attorney, and we're proud to have him as a partner. Read More

The criminal justice system is always evolving -- new crimes are created, old crimes are struck from the books. Sometimes old crimes develop new consequences -- the consequences for a DWI conviction keep getting more severe, while some drug offenses are being decriminalized. But one trend we're seeing around the country is the slow death of forfeiture laws. Read More

Back in 2016, it was cases from Minnesota and North Dakota that, combined into one mega-appeal, led the United States Supreme Court to find DWI test refusal laws were unconstitutional when it came to blood tests. That decision left a big unanswered question: what happens to prior refusal convictions? The North Dakota Supreme Court just said "throw them out." Read More

While everyone was talking about Governor Dayton's recent veto of the entire proposed 2018 tax bill, some other bills were signed into law, and slipped under a lot of people's radars. One bill we noticed was a minor change to Minnesota's DWI laws that will have a big impact in the future. Under the new law, if you are convicted of snowmobiling (or boating, or operating an ATV) while intoxicated, you won't just lose your operator privileges, you will lose your actual driver's license. Read More

This morning, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued two long awaited decisions regarding the potential Due Process implications for Minnesota's old Implied Consent Advisory. These two opinions provided some answers, raised some additional questions, and left a bit of extra work for the future. Read More

Get Registered! 2018's Annual DWI Seminar is scheduled for June 15, 2018, at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park, MN. Read More

It's here, the unofficial holiday known as "Drinksgiving." It's that night-before-Thanksgiving where old friends meet up, family members dread seeing each other the next day, and everyone seems to go to the bar. Whether you intend to celebrate Drinksgiving or not, you should know it's probably the worst night of the year to drive drunk (not that there is ever a good night to try it). Read More

There are still a few open spots available for the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer's Annual Fall CLE -- and it's one of those rare CLE's that qualify as a "must attend" event for anyone who practices criminal defense. Read More

Back in February, we filed a class action lawsuit against the State of Minnesota and the various providers of ignition interlock services, based on violations of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and drivers' Fourth Amendment rights. Here's an update. Read More

It's one of Ben Franklin's more memorable quotes: "I would rather have it said, 'he lived usefully,' than, 'he died rich.'" It's a sentiment that has been around, in one form or another, since humans started writing things down, and it usually boils down to the old simple cliche "you can't take it with you." So what does this have to do with DWI defense? Read More

Imagine you're on trial for killing your mother. Only one witness puts you at the scene of the crime at the right time. You're convicted of second degree murder after a harrowing trial. A few days later, one of the prosecutorial team comes forward and says "Hey, actually, there's this note from our key witness, saying that he was on drugs that whole night and might not have any memory of what he saw. Oh, and we've had this note all along, but we didn't tell the defendant's lawyer because we . . Read More

Michael Floyd, an NFL wide receiver who may-or-may-not be on the Vikings roster for the 2017 season, is facing criminal consequences for failing several breath alcohol tests while on probation for DWI. His defense is that the failed tests were the result of fermented Kombucha Tea, not intentionally consuming alcohol. Does such a defense make sense? Read More

We've just received disturbing news: One member of the Minnesota Attorney General's Office has decided to try and jump-start a new career as a folk singer. His first performance will be on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at the Lake Monster Brewing Company, and this spectacle is rapidly shaping up to be the "must attend" event of the year. Read More

It seems like every day brings a new variety of troubling news, and yesterday was no exception. Yesterday was when Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he was ending the National Commission on Forensic Science, an advisory panel that was built to "enhance the practice and improve the reliability of forensic science." This is a huge step back for the criminal justice system. Read More