State v. D.K.M.
Today the prosecutor completely dismissed our client’s Gross Misdemeanor DWI case with a .25 breath test result.
Late last year our client was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Officers from multiple agencies arrived on the scene. Following the accident, our client was brought to a local police department where he submitted to a breath test that produced a result of .25. He was subsequently charged with two counts of Gross Misdemeanor, 3rd Degree DWI.
Meanwhile, another officer from another police department mailed our client a citation for “failure to drive with due care.” After carefully reviewing the statutes and analyzing Minnesota appellate cases, we advised our client to pay the fine for the charge of failure to drive with due care. This resulted in a “conviction,” and was entered with the District Court.
At the first appearance we discussed this with the prosecutor. We explained to the state that we believed the GM DWI charges should be dismissed as they are barred by statute. Minnesota Statute § 609.035 bars serialized prosecution for offenses arising out of the same course of conduct. The statute provides:
“... [I]f a person's conduct constitutes more than one offense under the laws of this state, the person may be punished for only one of the offenses and a conviction or acquittal of any one of them is a bar to prosecution for any other of them.”
The fair-minded and learned prosecutor reviewed the statute and the facts of the case, and subsequently dismissed the case in its entirety without the need for judicial intervention.
While we cannot win every case we believe that with our training, experience and our “can-do” attitude we significantly improve the odds of success. If you’ve been charged with a crime and want to improve your odds of winning, call us and we will do our best for you, too!