ALL UPDATES FALL UNDER ONE OF TEN HEADINGS:
I. APPEALS & REMANDS
II. CHILD SUPPORT & CONTEMPT
III. CIVIL PRE-TRIAL PROCEDURES & HEARINGS (FOR TRIALS SEE #X)
IV. CRIMINAL PRE-TRIAL PROCEDURES & SEARCH AND SEIZURE
V. DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS
VI. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (INCLUDING OFP & HRO HEARINGS)
VII. EVIDENTIARY ISSUES
VIII. JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY, RESOURCES & SAFETY ISSUES
IX. PLEA OF GUILTY, SENTENCING, PROBATION & EXPUNGEMENT
X. TRIAL ISSUES (COURT OR JURY – CRIMINAL & CIVIL)
I. APPEALS & REMANDS
1. Appeal & Remands – Ten Common Triggers (11-11)
2. Judicial Landmines – 20 Mistakes Every Judge Should Avoid (13-15)
3. Fifteen Training Updates New Judges Should Use in Court (14-10)
4. Evidentiary Rulings – Preserving the Record: 5 Rules Every Judge (and Attorney) Must Know (15-02)
II. CHILD SUPPORT & CONTEMPT
1. Contested Child Support Civil Constructive Contempt Hearings (10-05)
2. Child Support: Five Tax Rules Every Judge Should KNow (13-04)
III. CIVIL PRE-TRIAL PROCEDURES AND HEARINGS (FOR TRIALS SEE #X)
1. Partial Summary Judgment – Rule 54.02 (10-21)
2. Evictions: 10 Basic Rules Every judge Must Know (11-07)
3. Ex-Parte Temporary Restraining Order: Five “Dahlberg” Factors (11-13)
4. Civil Judgments: Ten Questions Every Judge Should Know (12-02)
5. Ordering Summary Judgment Sua Sponte the Morning of Trial (14-01)
6. Conciliation Court – Proof of Service – Urban Myth (14-12)
7. Housing Court – Evictions: 12 basic rules every judge must know (14-22)
8. District Court Review of Arbitration Awards – One Common Mistake (14-24)
9. Transgender Name Change Petitions: Changing Gender Designation (15-05)
IV. CRIMINAL PRE-TRIAL PROCEDURES & SEARCH AND SEIZURE
1. Search Warrants: 3 Basic Rules That Every Judge Must Know: And 9 Additional Rules That Every Judge Should Know (10-03) (Replaced by 20-05)
2. Grand Jury Proceedings: Everything A Judge Needs To Know (11-09)
3. Warrantless Arrests & Detentions: 36 & 48 Hour Rules (11-12)
4. Criminal Pre-Trial Checklist (11-18)
5. Defendant’s Demand For Substitute Public Defender (12-03)
6. Judges Handbook on Motor Vehicle Stops (12-05)
7. Waiver of Extradition Advisory (13-01)
8. Missouri v. McNealy and Telephonic Search Warrants – 7 steps (13-06)
9. Warrantless Motor Vehicle Searches – Summary Chart (13-10)
10. Bail Hearings in Felony Strangulation Cases – 7 Medical Facts (14-07)
11. MN Handbook on Motor Vehicle Stops & Warrantless Searches (14-09)
12. Search of Cell Phones: Landmark Supreme Court Decision (14-11)
13. Urine Drug Testing: The Risk of False Positives (14-20)
14. Pro-Se Defendants at Trial: Everything that Judges Need to Know (15-03)
15. Paradee Motions: What Judges Need to Know & Two Sample Orders (15-09)
17. Search Warrants: Answers To 12 Core Questions Every Judge and Attorney Should Know. (20-05)
V. DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS
1. Rule 15 Type Questions to Finalize Divorce Proceedings (10-09)
2. Divorce Trials – Distribution of Personal Property (10-17)
3. Parenting Time Expeditor v. Parenting Consultant (12-01)
4. Family Law Motions: Ten Basic Rules (12-09)
5. Post-Decree Motions to Modify Custody Based on Endangerment (13-03)
6. Child Support: Five (5) Tax Rules Every Judge Should Know (13-04)
7. Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Reports: The Fool-Proof Hearsay Test (13-08)
8. Urine Drug Testing: The Risk of False Positives (14-20)
9. Spousal Maintenance & “Karon Waivers” (15-04)
VI. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (INCLUDING OFP & HRO HEARINGS)
1. Battered Woman Syndrome (10-13)
2. OFP & HRO Hearings: Right to Cross Exam & Present Witnesses (14-04)
3 Bail Hearings in Felony Strangulation Cases – 7 Medical & Legal Facts (14-07) Replaced by 18-01
4. OFP Advisory to Respondents – Another Urban Myth (14-13)
5. Domestic Abuse Counseling v. Anger Management (14-16)
6. Court-Related Violence – 15 Facts That Every Judge Should Know (14-17)
7. Minnesota’s 2014 Firearm Transfer or Surrender Act (14-21)
8. “Safe at Home” Program – Important Facts that Judges Need to Know (14-23)
VII. EVIDENTIARY ISSUES
1. Determining Admissibility of Hearsay (Crawford vs. Washington) (10-08)
2. Residual Hearsay Exception Rule: Minn. R. of Evid. 807 (10-12)
3. Battered Woman Syndrome (10-13)
4. Impeachment – Prior Felony Conviction (11-14)
5. Rape Victim Myths – Expert Testimony: Supreme Court Clarification (11-15)
6. Admissibility of Defendants Pre-Miranda Silence (11-16)
7. Spriegl Evidence – 5 Step Process (12-04)
8. Admissibility of Defendant’s Prior Bad Acts & Relationship Evidence (12-06)
9. Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Reports: The Fool-Proof Hearsay Test (13-08) (Replaced see 20-01)
10. Admissibility of Electronic Evidence “Focus on Authenticity” (13-11)
11. Admissibility of Business Records – 5 Questions: Rule 803(6) (14-2)
12. Evidentiary Rulings – Preserving the Record: 5 Rules Every Judge (and Attorney Must Know (15-02)
13. Impeachment – Prior Inconsistent Statements & Two Sample Impeachment scripts (15-10)
15. SNAPCHAT as evidence: The smoking gun often overlooked (16-08)
16. Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Reports: How to overcome hearsay objections (20-01)
VIII. JUDICIAL PHILOSOPHY, RESOURCES & SAFETY ISSUES
1. A Judges Soliloquy on Judging (10-22)
2. Judicial Resource: Prof. Simon’s “Online Judge’s Bench Book” (11-06)
3. Official Court Reporters – 10 Basic Rules Every Judge Should Follow (13-02)
4. “Judicial Landmines” 20 Common Mistakes Every Judge Should Avoid (13-15)
5. Handling Your 1st Electronic Calendar – Ten Simple Steps to Follow (14-06)
6. Fifteen (15) Updates that New Judges Should Use in Court (14-10)
6. Court-Related Violence: 15 Facts That Every Judge Should Know (14-17)
7. Top Ten Funny Judicial Quotes (15-08)
8. Judicial Decision-Making: “Implicit Bias” & “Decision Fatigue” (15-12) (Replaced by 20-03)
9. Judicial & Legal Writing: The #1 Rule for Improving = CUTTING (15-14) (Replaced by 20-02)
10. Warning signs for judges & attorneys – ten habits of chronically unhappy people (15-17)
11. The five most common regrets that people have at the end of their lives (15-19)
12. The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Judge Pendleton (16-01)
13. Changing the name of the Blog (16-02)
14. The depressed lawyer – why are so many lawyers so unhappy? (16-07)
15. Ten tips that every new attorney should know (17-02)
16. The power of gratitude – improving your life & legal practice (17-05).
17. Judicial & legal writing: The Number #1 Rule For Improvement – CUTTING (20-02)
18. Judicial Decision-Making Fatigue: Can hunger and fatigue affect judicial fairness? YES (20-03)
19. Introduction to Minnesota’s most convenient and simple legal research library (20-04)
IX. PLEA OF GUILTY, SENTENCING, PROBATION & EXPUNGEMENT
1. Use of Leading Questions in Guilty Pleas (10-01)
2. Felony Sentencing: Two Common Misunderstandings (10-02)
3. Lothenbach Plea: A Potential Judicial Landmine (10-11)
4. Acceptance of Guilty Plea – When? (10-18)
5. Probation Revocations: The “Austin” Findings – Clarification (11-08)
6. Jail Credit Calculation – New Supreme Court “Clarkin” Rule (12-07)
7. Consecutive Sentencing – A Common Judicial Mistake (12-08)
8. Minnesota Jail Credit Manual (12-10)
9. Sentencing Oversight: Inadvertent Deprivation of Lawful Jail Credit (13-07)
10. Dimler Amendment, Speeding Tickets &Your Driving Record (13-9)
11. Immigration: 5 Facts Every Judge (and attorney) Should Know (13-13)
12. Restitution vs. Fines, What Gets Paid First – New Rule (13-14)
13. Alford (Defendant Denies Guilt) Plea of Guilty (14-18)
14. Minnesota’s New Expungement Law – A Step by Step Guide (15-01)
15. Minnesota’s New Expungement Law – Part Two (15-01A)
17. Norgaard Plea of Guilty (Unable to Recall Facts) (15-16)
18. Time spent in jail while on probation: Urban myth – The 12 month limit (15-18)
X. TRIAL ISSUES (COURT OR JURY – CRIMINAL & CIVIL)
1. Courtroom Closure: Full or Partial Exclusions (10-06)
2. Manual on Prosecutorial Misconduct (10-14)
3. Cautionary Jury Instructions During Trial (11-02)
4. Judicial Guidelines for Voir Dire (11-03)
5. Criminal Voir Dire Questions Asked by the Court (11-04)
6. Judicial Mistake #1: When Defendants Stipulate to Element of Offense (11-05)
7. Impeachment – Prior Felony Conviction (11-14)
8. Admissibility of Defendants Pre-Arrest Silence (11-16)
9. Rape Victim Myths – Expert Testimony: Supreme Court Clarification (11-15)
10. Criminal Pre-Trial Checklist (11-18)
11. Spriegl Evidence – 5 Step Process (12-04)
12. Jury Selection “Batson” Challenge (13-02)
13. Ordering Defendants to Wear Restraints During Trial (13-05)
14. Official Court Reporters – 10 Basic Rules Every Judge Should Follow (13-12)
15. Weapons & Hazardous Exhibits in the Courtroom Policy (14-03)
16. Courtroom Interpreters – 6 Procedural Steps to Follow (14-05)
17. Cross-Examination: Judicial Checklist for Mentoring Attorneys (14-08)
18. Hearsay vs. Non-Hearsay: The Fool-Proof Hearsay Test (14-15)
19. Civil Jury Trials: 10 Trial Issues Judges Should be Prepared For (14-19)
20. Pro-Se Defendants at Trial: Everything that Judges Need to Know (15-03)
21. Judge’s On-Line Jury Trial Bench Book (15-06)
22. Criminal Motions for Judgment of Acquittal (15-07)
28. Exposing implicit racial bias during jury selection…How? (17-03)
