NO JAIL
Ineligible possession of a firearm
State v. S.J.
S.J. was facing a prison sentence of five years unless the judge granted a downward departure at sentencing. The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission keeps stats on the percentage of defendants who are sentenced to prison or not based on the level of the offense and criminal history. Based on these stats, there was a 92% chance S.J. was going to prison for five years. But Peter worked extremely hard on a downward departure motion crafting the best argument possible weaving together both the facts and the law. Against these long odds, the judge granted the departure and S.J. did not need to spend even a day in prison. It’s not fun being in a position where the odds are stacked against you and you need a Hail Mary pass to win. But if you are in that position you want a talented quarterback to be the one throwing the ball for you.
EXPUNGEMENT GRANTED
Order for protection (OFP) violation
State v. Anonymous
Certain crimes in Minnesota are enhancable. Which means that if you are charged within 10 years of the first conviction, you face higher penalties. This creates a bigger challenge if you are seeking an expungement within 10 years. However, this is not an insurmountable barrier. In this case, Peter was able to create the best arguments possible in an OFP violations case that was less than 10 years old. And he was able to convince the judge to grant the expungement, notwithstanding it still being within the enhancable time frame.
CASE DISMISSED
1st degree criminal sexual conduct
State v. H.B.
The client was facing a presumptive 12 years of prison. The case was dismissed prior to trial even starting in the interests of justice. The client did not have to spend even one day in jail.
EXPUNGEMENT GRANTED
Criminal Vehicular Operation
State v. Anonymous
The client got drunk and got in a car accident where the victim was injured. It’s a terrible situation. But everyone deserves second chances. And my client had not had any problems with alcohol since the accident. I was able to argue to get the expungement granted so my client could get gainful employment after facing years of being denied for new jobs.
CASE DISMISSED
5th degree assault, disorderly conduct, and trespass
State v. D.L.
The client was charged with a slew of crimes that sounded bad, but was far more complicated than it initially appeared. He was kicked out of college hockey game being played at Xcel Energy Center for foul language. You may be asking, isn’t foul language a part of the game? That would be a fair question. The client exited the arena and then re-entered the arena and was alleged to have pushed a security guard. Leading to the three charges. Re-entering the arena to argue with the security guard may not have been the best choice. But there was evidence suggesting the security guard was the first person to lay his hands on the client before the client put up his hands to defend himself. Peter Lindstrom leveraged the facts to negotiate it down to diversion with the entire case being dismissed after completing diversion.
EXPUNGEMENT GRANTED
Fleeing a police officer and DWI
State v. Anonymous
Fleeing a police officer is normally not expungable because it is a felony not on the expungable statutes list. But because the client received a stay of imposition that converted his conviction to a misdemeanor after completing probation, he was eligible to petition for expungement. Some crimes are easier than others to get expunged. But some have more challenges and judges can have a little more resistance to granting expungement without really compelling reasons. Both fleeing a police officer and DWI are more challenging because a lot of judges see it as a public safety risk issue and want to keep the record out there. But I was able to argue for both of the offenses to be expunged because of my ability to weave together the facts and the law for a compelling argument.
CHARGED LOWERED
misdemeanor school bus stop arm violation
State v. S.T.
The client was facing a misdemeanor charge failing to stop for a school bus with its stop arm extended. Many people do not realize this is considered a crime and is not like a petty misdemeanor traffic citation, which is not a crime. She had almost plead guilty by paying the fine when she first contacted me. Thankfully, she retained me before doing so. I was able to negotiate the case down to a petty misdemeanor and was able to keep anything off of her criminal record.
EXPUNGEMENT GRANTED
Malicious punishment of a child
State v. Anonymous
The client was alleged to have used a belt as punishment against her niece. Upon going over the reports and talking with my client, I found out that it was actually the child’s mother who had committed the crime, but my client had felt pressure from her original attorney into taking a plea deal back when the incident occurred over 10 years ago. The police reports confirmed that the mother was actually the primary suspect, for unknown reasons, the investigation turned back onto my client. It upsets me when I hear of attorneys who put pressure on their clients like this. There was no way to go back in time and undo the plea, but we could get her record expunged so she would not have to live with this record any farther. I was able to argue for the record to get expunged for the client.
NO JAIL
3rd lifetime DWI
State v. K.A.
The client was facing his third lifetime DWI. In his previous DWI conviction, he had received 10 days of jail and 20 days of electronic home monitoring. It was expected that he would receive similar or worse sanctions in this case. But Peter was able to negotiate a plea agreement that included no jail and no electronic home monitoring.
CHARGES LOWERED
5th degree assault down to disorderly conduct
State v. B.B.
The client was facing 5th degree assaults charges related to a fist fight that resulted in injuries to the complaining witness. The complaining witness told the police an exaggerated story that the police bought whole cloth. Peter Lindstrom was able to leverage the facts to show how much that this was closer to a mutual confrontation than the exaggerated story the complaining witness claimed it was. A plea agreement was negotiated where the 5th degree assault charges would be dismissed and the client would receive a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge for being loud and boisterous instead. The client was able to keep a violent conviction off his record.
CHARGES LOWERED
Domestic assault down to disorderly conduct
State v. D.S.
The client got into a fight with his girlfriend. The client was dead to rights. There was a witness that saw everything. But Peter Lindstrom leveraged the client’s character to show that this was one isolated mistake in an otherwise exemplary life. Peter was able to negotiate the case down to a disorderly conduct under the loud and boisterous subdivision.
NO CONVICTION
Domestic assault
State v. L.H.
The client was alleged to have punches his girlfriend in the face. Peter leveraged evidence about the fight being more of a mutual altercation than what the State’s theory was to get a plea negotiation that avoids a conviction. The client is an avid hunter and was very grateful to reach a result where he would get to keep his firearm rights.
NO JAIL
1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct
State v. H.B.
The client was facing a presumptive 12 years of prison. The only way the judge could deviate from the 12 years of prison was if the judge found extraordinary and compelling reasons to grant a downward departure from the presumptive sentence. Peter filed a lengthy motion for downward departure with citations to scholarly articles on recidivism rates for people in the low-risk category. Peter also leveraged the facts of extenuating circumstances in the case. The client confessed to the crime and was extremely remorseful over what he had done. He was 19 years old, black out drunk, and only had a hazy memory of the night. It had been 6 years since the offense, and he had not engaged in any criminal behavior since. This does not excuse the crime. But the question of what to do with a young man in this situation is different than what to do with a hardened criminal whose actions were intentional. The judge was initially planning to send the client to jail, but only after thorough advocacy from Peter, the judge granted the downward departure. The client is now in treatment to make sure this never happens again. The judge followed the compelling arguments of Peter in allowing the defendant to be rehabilitated through treatment and return to be the breadwinner for his family instead of going to prison for 12 years.
NO JAIL
3rd degree criminal sexual conduct
State v. K.T.
The client was facing a presumptive 4 years of prison. But a plea was negotiated that put a cap of 180 days of jail. Peter Lindstrom filed a motion arguing for 0 days of jail. Peter prevailed in the motion because the judge ordered community work service instead of jail.
CASED DISMISSED
Felony gun possession
State v. C.T.
The client was facing mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Peter Lindstrom filed a motion to suppress and dismiss because the warrantless search of his motor vehicle was in violation of his 4th amendment rights. These are difficult to win. But Peter wrote such a powerful motion that the prosecutor decided it wasn’t even worth bringing before a judge and dismissed the case outright. The client cried tears of joy when he learned that the case was being dismissed.