Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Re: Misunderstanding that paying a fine constitutes guilt

Your question is not entirely clear as it leaves out pertinent information, and appears to make some erroneous conclusions. But, one must start somewhere, correct?

You don't specify, but presumably be "possession" you mean "possession of a small amount of marijuana" in Minnesota? If so, that is by statutory definition a "petty misdemeanor" (with exception for some with priors), which is not a "crime." Thus a petty misdemeanor "violation" or "civil infraction" is not a "misdemeanor," not is it a "crime" in Minnesota.

Moving on to the next issue: payment of a fine for a petty misdemeanor charge as the equivalent of a guilty plea. Depending upon various factors, including especially the passage of time, it is generally possible to ask the court to withdraw the "plea" by default and fine payment, and have the matter set back on the court calendar. Often, the court requires some money up front before they will do this. Yes, you should have a good lawyer once it's back in court if you want a good result.

The third issue raised - gun rights. Since I haven't had a client with just this problem, I don't know that a petty misdemeanor affects gun rights, though perhaps any controlled substance "civil infraction" might have implications. However, in my experience police often make the most negative interpretation of the law possible, when in doubt, and are very often completely wrong. They seem comfortable simply putting the burden upon the applicant to prove them wrong. I have helped people with these kinds of issues.

Fourth question area - expungement. Expungment might be possible, though a guilty plea makes it difficult. A better approach would probably be to withdraw the default "guilty plea" by fine payment, set the matter back on the court calendar, and get a result which does not include a guilty plea.