Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Disorderly Conduct summons

After 3 months went by I was given a summons without a court date charging me with disorderly conduct. I was never charged nor given a ticket 3 months earlier when I called the police via 911 to have them arrest a guy whom threatened me at knife point after I exited my vehicle to converse with him as he approached my vehicle, about his poor driving road rage. The police arrested him and the DA said there was not enough evidence for a felony. I was never cited for anything. I just received a summons. I was the person whom called out of my own concern for safety and the police believed they had enough evidence against this guy to arrest him. I am also not a resident of MN but of CA with CA drivers license. I do own a rental property in MN however. Could there be a jurisdiction problem? Also, I did call the DA and he asked me to call him in a week as he said he would be glad to discuss my case on the phone. (Is this a good thing) Should I plea bargain with the DA or should I go to court and plead a no contest or not guilty plea? I am not guilty of anything and there is no witness thereof. The perpetrator was arrested. Would it be in my best interest to hire an attorney as I don't want any marks on my clean record? Thank you.


Asked on 11/07/08, 3:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas C. Gallagher Gallagher Criminal Defense

Re: Disorderly Conduct summons

The situation you describe explains why many are reluctant to call police for help.

Now that you have this situation, you are right to want to protect your clean record, which is worth significant cash value over a working lifetime. In order to be able to clean your record to the maximum extent under current Minnesota law, you will need to avoid a conviction as well as avoid a guilty plea (to be qualified for a statutory expungement one day). Though it is conceivalbe that you could accomplish this without a lawyer helping you, it seems extremely unlikely. I would also want to look into asserting the Crime Victims Rights statute on your behalf. Call me if you would like to discuss my helping you with this. FFI: www.Liberty-Lawyer.com

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Answered on 11/07/08, 12:03 pm


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