Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Re: stolen guns-no evidence

The county atty could press charges, but apparently doesn't want to. 3.5 years ago is a long time..case is getting stale. You should talk to county atty's office directly.

Re: stolen guns-no evidence

Whether your guns were stolen for purposes of an insurance claim is a different issue than whether the county attorney wishes to charge your nephew with a crime based upon available evidence. One should not depend upon the other. If your insurance company denies your claim on that basis, you could sue your insurance company for breach of contract, then prove your loss at trial in your lawsuit against your insurance company. I imagine that "four guns," are not worth more than the conciliation court dollar-limit for jurisdiction (unless they are unusually valuable guns), and if so you could sue the insurance company relatively cheaply in conciliation court.

Remember the O.J. Simpson murder cases? He was acquitted in the criminal case, when the jury found that there was not "proof beyond reasonable doubt" of his guilt. But, in the civil wrongful death case for the same two killings, he was found to have been the killer by that jury, upon the civil standard of proof, "by a preponderance of the evidence." Similarly, in your civil suit against the insurance company, you need only prove the theft and its value by a "preponderance of the evidence." But, the prosecutor would have had to prove a crime "beyond a reasonable doubt." Note too, that for some crimes in Minnesota the statute of limitations is three years.

Also, if your nephew testified in your civil suit against your insurance company and claimed the Fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination, the judge or jury in your civil case could make an inference that he was guilty of the theft, since that is allowed in civil cases. This might help you win.

Naturally, you would be better off with a lawyer representing you. But if you feel it's not worth hiring a lawyer due to the low value of the four guns, you can represent yourself in conciliation court more easily than in "regular court." Maybe it's worth a shot?