Legal Question in DUI Law in Minnesota

Re: Police Rules

The legal term covering your question is "probable cause." The answer to each of your questions is "yes," IF the police have probable cause.

Probable cause is enough information to believe that it is more likely than not that a crime is in progress.

When it comes to entering a home, they are required to go talk with a judge about their probable cause and get a warrant, UNLESS there's no time because the evidence may dissapear in the meantime. That means that they get to go in without a warrant in lots of drug and alcohol related matters. They can also enter a home if they are concerned about someone's welfare.

I recently had a case where the cops tracked my client from the scene of an accident to his brother's house. They entered the house without a warrant and without the homeowner's permission to check on the guy's welfare. They were afraid he might have been hurt in the accident - or so they said. (Yes, he was arrested for DWI.)

The statute about the portable breath test says that they can ask you to take it as part of their investigation to SEE IF they have probable cause for an arrest. So you probably can just be stopped while walking down the street - or close to it.

I am concerned about you. If drinking is important enough to you to be asking this question, you may either be or be on your way to becoming a problem drinker.

Re: Police Rules

These are big, broad questions. Many books have been written which answer these kinds of questions. You may want to read one or more of these. Also, you could watch a DVD called "Busted!" from Flex Your Rights, which shows the best responses to these kinds of scenarios:

http://www.flexyourrights.org/busted

I highly recommend this excellent video. Watch it more than once with all your friends.

I can't write a book here, but I'll offer a few ideas for you. Most of the times police come into a house and write tickets for underage consumption, there is a party going on at the house. Often there is loud music, people coming and going, and an unlocked door the police might just walk through. Police might see and underage person under the influence of alcohol outside or inside the house. This could provide them probable cause to come inside, or someone might let them in (which they may call "consent"). If you tell them you don't want them in your house after they have probable cause a crime is being committed, this attempt at denying or revoking any "consent" to enter may be too late.

As for walking down the street, no, in Minnesota they cannot legally require you to blow into an alcohol breath machine (since you are walking, not driving). If you were drinking, it would be foolish to consent to blow into a machine at their request. Instead, politely decline. Be careful out there!