Category: Criminal Law
How to Cope When Affected by DWI
January 28, 2013 | Jon P. EricksonA DWI can be scary for everyone involved. There are countless of people arrested every day in Minnesota for driving while impaired but we really only hear about the extreme cases or those involving famous people. The fact is that they are more common than you think and if you drive drunk, you are at risk of being arrested. If You are Arrested Whether a cop notices you driving recklessly stops you at a checkpoint or responds to an accident that you are involved in, if you have been drinking and driving you can go to jail. It is important to remain calm when approached by an officer and to say as little as possible. The more you say, the more you could incriminate yourself. If an officer pushes you to admit you were drinking, continue to remain silent or simply say that you would like to speak to your attorney. Even if you are not drunk, you should decline the field sobriety test because they are known for being unreliable. Even if you didn’t have a drop of alcohol to drink, you could fail the test. At this point, you will be arrested and brought into the police station if the officer believes that you are intoxicated. Do not resist arrest or…
Read MoreUnderstanding DUI – What Do I Do Now?
January 24, 2013 | Jon P. EricksonMaybe you’ve gone out to celebrate with a few friends at a local restaurant in Minneapolis and had a few drinks; or maybe you had a couple of beers at home and decide to pick up dinner. The last thing you expect is to be pulled over for a DUI but the fact of the matter is you don’t even have to be driving erratically to be pulled over. Why am I Being Pulled Over? There are a few different scenarios that can lead to you being arrested for driving while under the influence. The first is because a police officer sees you driving erratically. He will throw on his lights and maybe even his siren, signaling for you to slow down. A second reason is because you are approaching a drunk driving checkpoint. Here police officers will check every driver for signs of being drunk. A more serious reason could be because you caused an accident or were involved in a traffic complication so a police officer pulls you over to investigate the situation. No matter what the reason, you now are in front of a police officer and face being arrested. Even if you know you are legally over the limit, do not try to outrun the cops. This will only…
Read MoreHow to Expunge Your Record
October 29, 2012 | Jon P. EricksonIf you have a criminal charge on your record from when you were younger, you have the possibility of erasing it from your history. This erasing, or sealing, is called expungement. The Past is the Past You shouldn’t have to live forever by the mistakes you made when you were younger and allow them to haunt your future. People sometimes do crazy things when they are young and when they grow older they could end up really regretting them. Unfortunately, this criminal past can prevent you from many things in life because it shows up on your criminal record. You may even have a difficult time finding employment because of it. A criminal record expungement is not a guaranteed thing. You still have to go through a proceeding which will help a judge determine whether to grant or deny the request. The judge overseeing the case will typically consider the following points: What type of crime you are seeking to expunge Other charges in your criminal history If you are presently employed or looking for employment If you have taken steps to turn your life around If the way you are living your current life is in direct contrast with your past, the judge may see that you have turned your life around….
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