Monthly Archives: January 2015

Minnesota’s New Expungement Law – Part Two: Six Additional and Important Clarifications (15-01A)

Posted on January 30, 2015 | Leave a comment

On January 5th, 2015, Judicial Training Update (15-01) summaExpungement1rizing Minnesota’s historic new expungement law was distributed. During the next several weeks, the thirst for additional information coming from judges, attorneys, law enforcement and the general public was overwhelming. The purpose for this Part Two Expungement Update is to add 6 additional facts about the new law. The following 6 additional facts are intended to supplement and provide clarification to the January 5th training update (15-01).  Everything in the first training update is still accurate.

  1. When the Court Orders Expungement – Does that Include DNA Samples and DNA Records?
  2. What About Domestic Violence Convictions – Will the 2015 Legislature Revisit This Issue?
  3. What About DWI Convictions: Use for Enhancement & Implied Consent Records?
  4. Can You Use an Expunged Conviction for Enhancement Purposes (i.e. DWI’s Assaults, etc.?)
  5. How do Law Enforcement Agencies and Prosecutors Access and Share Expunged Records?
  6. What Procedure is the BCA Following for Cases Involving “Stays of Imposition”?

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO READ MORE:

PendletonUpdate15-01A

 

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Posted in EXPUNGEMENT, Minnesota's New Expungement Law

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Evidentiary Rulings – Preserving the Record: 5 Rules Every Judge (and attorney) Must Know (15-02)

Posted on January 20, 2015 | Leave a comment

Lack_EvidenceUpdate Focus:  You are upset at your judge’s evidentiary ruling(s). You are convinced the courts legal analysis is seriously flawed and you believe you could win on appeal. Preserving the court record is one of the fundamental duties of all judges and attorneys. However, winning an appeal by arguing evidentiary error is exceedingly hard to do. This Update will focus on the 5 most important rules that attorneys and judges must follow in order to preserve an evidentiary ruling for appeal.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO READ MORE:

PendletonUpdate15-02

 

 

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Posted in APPEALS and/or REMANDS, EVIDENCE, Evidentiary Rulings - Preserving the Record, Evidentiary Rulings - Preserving the Record, Evidentiary Rulings - Preserving the Record, TRIAL ISSUES

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Minnesota’s New Expungement Law – A Step-by-Step Guide for Judges & Attorneys (15-01)

Posted on January 6, 2015 | Leave a comment

HISTORIC NEW LEGISLATION: If the significance of a new law is measured by the benefit it brinExpungement1gs to the public and the anticipated impact it will have on the entire judicial system, then Minnesota’s new Expungement “second chance” law is nothing short of historic.

This new Expungement law will give countless qualified Minnesotans a second chance to reclaim their lives without the stigma attached to having a criminal record. For example:

  1. In a 2012 survey, the Society for Human Resource Management, found that 87 percent of employers run criminal background checks.
  2. And it is not just felonies or violent crimes that stand in the way of a job offer being extended to a qualified candidate. Twenty Six percent of employers in this survey stated that they would NOT extend an offer to someone with a nonviolent misdemeanor conviction.
  3. In addition, the impact of a misdemeanor conviction is compounded for individuals licensed by the Department of Human Services because certain misdemeanor convictions will result in a seven-year disqualification.

However, the road to expungement for a petitioner is not guaranteed. There are burdens to meet, hurdles to overcome and ultimately the presiding judge, after applying a 12 part test, must be convinced that the benefit to the petitioner outweighs the detriment to the public and public safety. Under this new law, only the truly worthy will qualify.

The attached Judicial Training Update provides judges, attorneys and the general public with a Step-by-Step Guide to Minnesota’s new “second chance” expungement law.

CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO READ MORE

 PendletonUpdate15-01

 

 

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Posted in EXPUNGEMENT, Minnesota's New Expungement Law

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2014 in review

Posted on January 2, 2015 | Leave a comment

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 18,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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