The Complete Guide to
Facing Criminal Charges
in Minnesota
Table of Contents
Precharge (Under Investigation)
Arrest
Summons
First appearance
Conditions of release
Bail
DANCO (implicated in bail)
Criminal Defense Attorney
Discovery
Investigation
Omnibus
Probable cause
Depositions
Notices
Trial preparation
Plea discussions
Jury questionnaires
Motions in Limine
Voir dire
Sentencing guidelines
Sentencing
Rule 20 hearings
Post-conviction hearings
Appeals
Criminal law is complicated and is undoubtedly intimidating and overwhelming for those facing charges. However, the more you understand about the process, the better prepared you will feel. If you’ve been charged with a crime in Minnesota or know someone who has, this guide is a great place to start.
We know the stakes are high and the consequences of facing criminal charges can be life-changing.
This guide will help you understand the criminal justice process in Minnesota so you can ask the right questions, find the right defense team, and make informed decisions so that you can protect your rights and future.
Precharge (Under Investigation)
While most criminal charges are based on relatively quick investigations, some are based on extensive investigations over a period of weeks, months or even years.
During the investigation, law enforcement may try to speak to the suspect.
It is nearly always a mistake for a suspect to speak to law enforcement without an attorney present. Even with the assistance of counsel it is usually a mistake to speak to law enforcement while under investigation.
There are a few exceptions, which we will discuss below.
In Minnesota as in all states, criminal defendants have a Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. However, this right attaches only after you are arrested or detained on suspicion of committing the alleged crime.
You do not have a right to remain silent if you are taken in for questioning before charges are filed against you or while you are under investigation.
The only way you effectively have the right to remain silent pre-charge is by retaining an attorney; that attorney will effectively take away the suspect’s right to speak with law enforcement or the ability to speak with law enforcement.
This means that the prosecutor cannot say to a jury – should the case go to trial – that you refused to cooperate with law enforcement during the investigation, because at that point it was the attorney’s choice.
When representing someone pre-charge, it is the attorney’s first job to keep their client from being charged at all. Secondly, they will help minimize any possibly charges and keep you from doing anything that makes matters worse.
A good criminal defense attorney will have extensive conversations with you; they may visit the scene or location where any alleged illicit activities took place; review documents; secure the assistance of an investigator or other experts to produce evidence; talk to the prosecutor or other law enforcement authorities; may assist you in participating with an interview with law enforcement; help you with any parallel civil investigations (for example if a client is under investigation for an alleged financial crime and is also under investigation for violations of civil rules governed by the SEC or a similar regulatory agency); and otherwise work toward either exonerating you, or mitigating guilt.
Arrest
Many if not most people charged with crimes in Minnesota are arrested rather than summoned to court.
When law enforcement develops probable cause through their own observations to believe that you have committed a crime, you may be arrested on the spot.
The best example of this is when someone is arrested on suspicion of DWI:
The officer pulls the individual over for a valid reason.
The driver complete field sobriety tests, which they fail.
The officer administers a breathalyzer, which the driver fails.
At this point, the officer has probable cause to believe that the driver was operating the motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol. The officer may arrest the driver on the spot (and usually does).
Law enforcement frequently arrests suspects immediately following the development of probable cause for such criminal charges as domestic assault, felony theft, fleeing in a motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance, obstruction of legal process, and assault.
There are exceptions.
If an officer pulls over someone for a traffic violation and learns that the driver has a revoked license, if that is the ONLY crime for which there is probable cause (and there are no outstanding warrants), the officer may not arrest the driver.
The driver is either issued a citation, or informed that they will receive a summons in the mail. The driver is told that they may not drive the vehicle away, however.
The policy purpose of this is to reduce the number of physical arrests when the suspect does not pose an immediate threat of harm to others, or a risk of not coming to court.
Summons
A summons is a legal notice that is delivered in person which tells the individual that they will need to appear in court. In criminal cases a summons is used as an alternative to an arrest warrant.
Summons are issued for many different types of criminal charges. Usually summons are distributed for simple misdemeanors, but can occasionally be used in more serious crimes.
In the rare case that a summons is served in a more serious crime, it is usually because the investigation phase took a long time.
A summons typically includes a court date as well as a copy of the complaint.
If you have received a summons, you have the benefit of contacting an attorney before your first appearance.
First appearance
Your first appearance in a criminal case can happen in one of two ways: either you are in custody after being arrested for suspected criminal activity or were arrested due to a warrant; or you voluntarily appeared in court after receiving a summons.
In either event, the court will make sure that you understand the nature of the charges against you, and understand your rights that attach to those charges.
The court will ask the prosecution and defense which hearing they would like to schedule next.
In Minnesota the next hearing after the first appearance is typically either a rule 8 hearing, or an omnibus hearing.
A rule 8 hearing is essentially an outdated hearing that remains part of the rules of criminal procedure in Minnesota. If you have not yet retained an attorney or been appointed a public defender, a rule 8 hearing gives you the opportunity to secure counsel.
If the first appearance is for a misdemeanor, you will typically enter a “not guilty” plea, and the case will be set for a pre-trial hearing.
Depending on the nature of your charge, if you appear in court following a summons, the judge may issue an “order for booking” which requires you to go to the jail or law enforcement center to be photographed, fingerprinted, and to provide other identifying information to law enforcement.
If you were arrested before making your first appearance you will have usually already completed any booking procedures.
Conditions of release
At the first appearance, whether the you are in jail or appeared in court following a summons, the court will set conditions of release.
Most of the time when you are in court following to a summons, the court will set unconditional bail in some monetary amount, and conditionally release you on your promise to appear.
Under Article I, Section 7 of the Minnesota constitution, “All persons before conviction shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses…”
Since Minnesota has no capital offenses (crimes punishable by death), bail is applied to all criminal charges.
However, there is no practical upper limit to monetary bail, meaning a court could set bail so high that no one could afford to post it.
Typically, there are two types of release conditions: unconditional bail, which, if paid, has no other requirements, and conditional bail, which is usually much lower or may not involve any monetary bail but almost always comes with additional conditions.
Conditions applied under conditional release usually include:
Regular check-ins: You may be required to report to a probation officer on a regular basis.
Travel restrictions: You may be prohibited from leaving a specific area, such as the state or country, without court approval.
No-contact orders: You may be ordered to have no contact with certain individuals, such as victims, witnesses, or co-defendants.
Surrender of passport: In some cases, you will have to forfeit passport to prevent fleeing the country.
Drug or alcohol testing: You may be required to undergo regular drug or alcohol testing.
Electronic monitoring: The court may require you to wear an ankle bracelet to track your location.
Maintain employment or attend school: Defendants may need to show they are working or enrolled in school.
Curfew: You may be given a curfew that limits your movement during certain hours.
Stay-away orders: You may be ordered to stay away from certain places.
Rehabilitation or counseling: You may be required to attend a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program, anger management class, or mental health counseling.
Conditions of release are supposed to be set based on public safety and flight risk.
This means the judge should determine whether there is evidence that you may not show up at the next court date or are a danger to the community. Bail should be set accordingly.
Bail
Bail is an amount of money turned over to the court in exchange for being released from jail.
This can be cash bail that the defendant or friends or family may post, or it can be a promise from a bail bondsman to pay an amount if the defendant does not come back to court or otherwise fails to comply with the conditions of release.
A bail bondsman is effectively in the business of insurance. The bondsman, depending on the size of the bond that needs to be written, will need some kind of collateral. In the case of a larger Bond, for example $100,000 up to a million dollars, the bondsman will need someone to cosign using a house as collateral.
With smaller bonds, other forms of collateral may be appropriate; the bondsman will typically need at least 10% of the total bond amount. Thus if the bond is $100,000, the bondsman will need someone to co-sign using a house's collateral and $10,000.
If the defendant or the defendant's family posts $100,000 cash, that amount would be returned to the defendant at the end of the case minus any fines and other financial obligations to the court (e.g. restitution).
The exception would be if the defendant fails to comply with the conditions of release: for example if the defendant fled from court and did not come back. in that case the court would probably forfeit the entire $100,000.
DANCO (implicated in bail)
In the case of someone being charged with a domestic assault, the legislature has changed the rules so that even when someone posts unconditional bail the person may still be subject to a no contact order with the alleged victim.
This is achieved by imposing a DANCO, or Domestic Abuse No Contact Order. This is completely separate from the criminal charges and on its own precludes the defendant from having any contact with the alleged victim in the criminal case.
Criminal Defense Attorney
An attorney in a criminal case will typically fall into one of three categories: First, most criminal defense attorneys are public defenders because most people charged with crimes require the assistance of a publicly funded attorney.
Public defenders are licensed attorneys that meet the same requirements as any other licensed attorney; they only represent people charged with crimes, they are not paid by their clients, and they may not turn down any clients that are appointed to them.
Many of the best criminal defense attorneys in Minnesota are public defenders. Unfortunately, public defenders are burdened by extraordinarily high caseloads. This precludes most public defenders from putting as much time as necessary into a case so as to ensure the best possible outcome.
Second, many criminal defense attorneys are actually general practitioners. General practitioners take a wide variety of cases, sometimes including criminal cases. For certain smaller, more routine criminal cases, it may be acceptable to retain a general practitioner, as that particular general practitioner may have good relationships with the prosecutor and the court personnel and have a general good reputation in the court system. However, criminal cases are among the most complex of all types of lawsuits, and retaining an attorney who is a true expert in the field will nearly always result in a better outcome.
Third, some attorneys focus their practice purely on criminal defense. These lawyers decline all other types of cases and focus only on representing those people charged with crimes. Pure criminal defense attorneys typically have lots of trial experience, suppression hearing experience and a deep understanding of all the law that applies in criminal cases. An analogy may be made to surgeons: a general surgeon may be skilled in surgery broadly speaking, but when a patient needs a brain tumor removed, such an operation is best performed by a board certified brain surgeon.
Discovery
In Minnesota, discovery (the evidence in a criminal case that comes from the prosecution, and in some cases from the defense) is regulated by rule 9 of the Minnesota rules of criminal procedure.
Minnesota has rather liberal discovery rules; that is, the state or the prosecution is required to turn over effectively their entire file to the defense. This reduces the phenomenon known as” trial by ambush.”
However, experienced criminal defense attorneys are always on the lookout for evidence that the state or prosecution may have failed to disclose, or may spring on the defense at the last possible moment, thereby creating an unfair advantage for the state.
The criminal defense lawyer should aggressively litigate discovery, making an initial broad request for all discovery available under rule 9. The attorney should also make specific demands for Discovery under Brady v. Maryland, the US Supreme Court case which holds that the state or the government must disclose to the defense all of the following evidence:
Exculpatory evidence (evidence that tends to show the defendant's innocence).
Mitigating evidence (evidence that reduces the defendant's culpability).
Impeachment evidence (evidence that shows the state's Witnesses are dishonest or for some other reason should not be believed by the jury or fact finder).
Investigation
The defense should undertake its own investigation.
Depending on the nature of the crime charged, the defense attorney should visit the scene, have an investigator interview witnesses, search for other documents, send components of the evidence or reports to other experts for an independent assessment of what the prosecution believes is true, and broadly develop a deep understanding of any field of knowledge that may bear on the case.
For example if the operation of a motor vehicle is implicated in the crime charged and there's an accusation by the state that the defendant drove erratically, if the client tells defense counsel that the steering was faulty, the steering assembly should be examined independently, and the defense counsel should study the nature of steering assemblies so as to be able to speak intelligently with the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury.
While law enforcement is supposed to investigate for all facts that are relevant to a criminal case, the reality is that once they have found what they believe is proof of a crime charge, they tend to not look for evidence that point to other suspects or would otherwise exonerate the person charged. Thus, it is important that the defense Counsel engage in their own investigation.
Omnibus
The Omnibus hearing in Minnesota is the hearing where any pretrial matters are litigated in felony and gross misdemeanor cases (in misdemeanor cases, there is no Omnibus hearing, but virtually anything that can be done at an Omnibus hearing for a gross misdemeanor or felony may be done at a different kind of hearing for a misdemeanor).
At the omnibus hearing, defense Counsel may litigate a motion to dismiss for lack of probable cause, a motion to suppress evidence, a motion to challenge the constitutionality of a statute, a motion to suppress the statements of the accused, and a host of other matters. The state also has the right to have an omnibus hearing, however they rarely ask for one.
Sometimes, Omnibus hearings are simply arguments by the parties.
A probable cause challenge, (when the defense argues that there is so little evidence that the state should not have charged the defendant with a crime at all and therefore the charges must be dismissed), is usually litigated by providing the judge with a packet of evidence from the prosecution, and then the prosecution and defense writing briefs in support of their respective positions.
In other cases, (where the defense has moved for suppression of evidence), a full-blown evidentiary hearing may take place. At this hearing the prosecution will likely call witnesses, very often members of law enforcement, who will testify for the state about the validity of their evidence.
The defense will then cross examine those witnesses developing testimony that attacks the strength of the basis of gathering that evidence. The defense may also call witnesses. At a suppression hearing, a defendant may testify without giving up the right to remain silent.
In effect, the defendant may testify as to a narrow issue that is important to the suppression matter, without being exposed to cross-examination concerning all other matters in the case. However, this is a very dangerous move and should only be done in limited circumstances, because if the defendant later needs to testify at a trial, anything the defendant said at the suppression hearing may be used at the trial.
Probable cause
Probable cause is a critical legal standard in criminal law, applied at various stages of a criminal case. It serves as the basis for law enforcement to search or arrest a suspect and for a judge to determine whether someone should be charged with a crime.
Additionally, probable cause can be challenged during an omnibus hearing. At this stage, the defense argues that while the government initially persuaded a judge that probable cause existed, the facts presented do not actually meet the legal requirements for the charged offense.
Importantly, during a probable cause hearing, the judge must accept the state’s alleged facts as true. However, the defense can contend that these facts, even if accepted, fail to satisfy one or more elements of the crime. This challenge is permitted because it aligns with public policy: individuals should not be forced to stand trial for charges where there is no realistic possibility of a jury finding them guilty.
There is another, much more rare case in which probable cause is implicated in a criminal matter. In a Minnesota DWI test refusal case, the jury has to find, among other things, that there was probable cause for the officer to arrest the defendant on suspicion of driving while impaired.
If a jury believes that there was probable cause to arrest the defendant, and then the defendant flatly refused to take the blood alcohol test or breath test at the law enforcement center, the jury will likely find that all of the elements are proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and will find the defendant guilty.
However, if there was never probable cause to arrest the defendant for DWI, then it doesn't matter if the defendant flatly refused to take the test. In this case, defense counsel will surely argue to the jury that the client should be found not guilty. This is a rare Instance in which probable cause may be challenged at multiple stages in a criminal matter.
Depositions
Depositions in Minnesota criminal cases are very rare.
In civil cases, depositions are used nearly universally as discovery tools; that is, they are used to gather evidence that is not otherwise known to the parties.
A deposition in a Minnesota criminal case is only for preserving testimony. In Minnesota criminal cases, the only circumstances that a judge would order a deposition would be when a witness would be completely unavailable (such as when a witness is dying and would not likely be alive for the trial, or when a person is leaving the country). But even in these circumstances, the court may not order a deposition.
Notices
The state is required to file certain kinds of notices by the omnibus hearing. These include notice for an aggravated sentence (meaning a sentence that is longer than the sentencing guidelines would typically dictate), motions for Spreigl evidence (what in other states is called 404(b) evidence– also known as evidence of prior bad acts of the defendant), and a few other kinds of notices.
The defense has notice requirements at Omnibus as well: notice of Alibi evidence, notice of self-defense, notice of post driving consumption (a notice that must be made in a DWI case when the defendant intends to argue at trial that the defendant consumed alcohol after operating in motor vehicle, which is why the defendant had alcohol in the bloodstream at the time of the testing. This evidence, if accepted by the jury, would result in an acquittal).
Trial Preparation
In many ways, trial preparation is at the core of criminal defense work. An excellent criminal defense lawyer will begin to build a theory of innocence during the first meeting with a prospective client.
The question the attorney must ask is: “given the fact that my client is innocent, how do I explain this situation to a jury in such a way that they find my client not guilty?”
When someone is charged with possessing drugs in a vehicle, for example, a good criminal defense lawyer will want to know whether the client’s roommate or friend had access to that vehicle. For every set of facts, there is a theory of innocence that, if accepted by a jury, will result in an acquittal.
It is the case that some facts are so constraining that none of the theories of innocence are likely to be accepted by the jury, but every possible theory should be explored.
An effective way for someone to evaluate the skill and creativity of a defense lawyer is to ask how that lawyer would defend the crime charged.
Theories of innocence may change dramatically throughout the course of the case. As discovery (evidence) is received from the state, the theory of innocence can either expand or change the direction of the case all together. As defense counsel engages in investigation on behalf of the client, new facts can create or give rise to narrower or more complete explanations.
In the event that evidence is suppressed, theories of innocence may expand (for example in a drug case if some of the drugs are suppressed but not others, it may be more accurate or realistic to argue that the drugs that will be admitted in evidence at trial were actually possessed by someone else).
A theory of Innocence is somewhat analogous to a story or a novel in that the core of the story may be simple, but the details and the manner in which all of the pieces fit together requires a tremendous amount of work to build. The longer the defense attorney works on a theory of innocence the stronger it becomes.
Trial preparation also includes building out specific components of the trial: motions in limine (motions to be made just before the beginning of the trial, to get certain kinds of evidence in, to keep certain kinds of evidence out, and other kinds of details that the judge can rule on before the jury gets in empaneled); jury selection (determining what background a juror may have that would be helpful or harmful to the facts of the specific charge and the defendant); the opening statement (how much to reveal and when - before any testimony or after the prosecution’s case is presented); cross-examinations for all the state’s witnesses; direct examination of the defense witnesses; preparation of exhibits (photographs, audio and video recordings, records of conviction of the state’s witnesses physical exhibits, et cetera); motions to be made at the close of evidence; closing arguments; motions to be prepared in the event of an adverse verdict; and other matters which the specific charge or fact problems present, including educating the client as to the trial process and how to act or not act during the trial.
Plea discussions
The majority of criminal cases are resolved before trial. Therefore, it is extremely important that criminal defense counsel understands the nature of plea discussions and negotiation generally.
The best foundation for successful plea discussions include being an excellent criminal defense lawyer with an excellent reputation amongst prosecutors (the better the lawyer’s reputation, the more likely the prosecutor will offer a very favorable resolution early in the case), deep preparation within the case (meaning that the case is fully prepared for trial) and deep preparation for the negotiation itself.
Sometimes a plea negotiation involves a plea to something that is already charged with less of a punishment then would happen if the client lost at trial.
But frequently, so long as the criminal defense Counsel has fully prepared, a plea negotiation can result in a resolution better than simply pleading guilty to something. Under the right circumstances, cases can be resolved without a conviction.
Cases can be resolved with what is called restitution (meaning money paid to the state or to an alleged victim) and in other ways. A client must make a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent decision to accept a negotiated settlement. A client is entitled to ask as many questions as necessary to understand the settlement.
Jury questionnaires
In the event that the case has not been resolved before trial, preparation for trial must continue.
Depending on the seriousness of the charges, either party may request a jury questionnaire. This is a list of questions sent out to prospective jurors so that the parties can develop a better understanding of those people that will eventually become jurors in the case.
This will include questions specific to the case in question (for example in a domestic assault case, prospective jurors may be asked whether they have ever been victims of domestic assault, or if they know anyone who has been a victim of domestic assault).
Questionnaires can be a very valuable tool. However there are reasons why defense counsel may not want one. Sometimes a questionnaire can harm a criminal defendant’s chances at trial. Where a prosecutor is not particularly adept at jury selection, providing the prosecutor with lots of information before trial may benefit the prosecution more than the defense.
Motions in Limine
Motions in limine Are motions made at the threshold of trial, or just before trial. These motions can have a profound effect on the outcome of a trial. They often determine what important evidence goes in front of a jury. They can determine what kinds of arguments may be made in front of the jury. Depending on the size of the case, a motion in limine hearing can last a day or more. Usually they don’t last more than about 90 minutes. In a case where the motion hearing will only last 90 minutes, it usually occurs the morning of the actual trial.
Voir dire
Voir dire is jury selection. In many cases, jury selection is the most important part of the trial. A jury randomly selected may not have enough members willing to hold the state to its burden, that is, proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Jury selection is the opportunity to determine whether any given prospective juror is willing and able to be fair. In Minnesota state cases, the judge is the first to ask questions of the prospective jurors. The judge will ask general questions, such as whether everyone lives in the relevant county, whether anyone does not have their civil rights (if someone is on probation for a felony offense, for example, that person may not be on a jury), if any of the prospective jurors know any of the witnesses, or the lawyers, or the judge, whether any of the prospective jurors is experiencing something that would make it impossible to be a juror on the case in question, and other similar questions.
Then it is the defense lawyer’s opportunity to ask questions. This entails asking questions to both determine whether a prospective juror should be struck for cause (which means they should be removed from the jury pool by the judge because they simply would not be able to be competent or fair as a juror), and to determine which jurors should be removed via peremptory strikes. Peremptory strikes are when a party removes jurors for any reason they choose.
When the defense attorney has completed jury selection questioning, it is the prosecutor’s turn.
A good defense attorney will pay extremely close attention to what happens during the prosecutor’s questioning, because it provides even more information to determine how they should use peremptory strikes.
Once the questioning is finished, the peremptory strikes begin. In a Minnesota felony case, the defense counsel gets five strikes, and the prosecutor gets three strikes. (If a life sentence is possible). The defense Counsel goes first, and then the prosecutor, and back and forth until all eight strikes are made.
At that point the judge determines whether the requisite number of jurors remain, and will excuse the rest of the panel. In bigger cases, a judge will require one or more alternate jurors. Thus, instead of there being 12 jurors in the jury box, there may actually be 13 or 14. That way if one of the jurors gets sick, or otherwise cannot continue to be a juror, by the time the case is over, there will be 12 jurors remaining.
In the event that none of the regular jurors had to be removed during the trial, at the end of the close of evidence, the alternate jurors will simply be excused. Sometimes defense counsel (and prosecutors) will speak to the alternate jurors upon their leaving, to get a read on what the rest of the jury might be thinking.
Sentencing guidelines
Minnesota is a sentencing guidelines state. That means (at least in felony cases) that the judge is constrained in terms of how severe or how lenient any given sentence may be. Sentencing guidelines are often very complex. Analysis of the application of sentencing guidelines to any given felony case starts with the sentencing guidelines grid.
This grid shows on one axis( the vertical, the “y” axis) the severity of the various crimes, and on another axis (the horizontal, the “x” axis) the number of criminal history points that any given defendant may have. The less severe the crime, and the less criminal history any given defendant has, the lower the possible sentence. However, there are exceptions. For example someone charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm is subject to a 60 month prison sentence no matter what the defendant’s criminal history.
Sentencing guidelines can have a huge impact on plea negotiations, and on whether a given case goes to trial. If, for example, a prosecutor refuses to offer any kind of favorable plea negotiation and simply says that the defendant must plead guilty and accept a prison sentence based on the sentencing guidelines, that may induce the criminal defense attorney to encourage the client to go to trial, even if winning a trial is a long shot. There are other circumstances in which someone may be facing a long prison sentence, but the case is a good candidate for a departure.
A departure is when the judge agrees to give a defendant a different sentence than the sentencing guidelines call for, for some specific reason. This can include being particularly amenable to probation (in which case the judge would sentence the defendant to perhaps some jail time and probation instead of sending the defendant to prison); it can also include crime-specific factors such as: the defendant was only partially responsible for the crime or had a limited role (in which case the defendant may still go to prison but for a far shorter period of time).
Alternatively a departure motion by the prosecution could be for an aggravated sentence, meaning the prosecution is asking for a longer prison sentence. Whether a departure motion is a good idea for the defense or whether the prosecution has made an aggravated departure motion, in either case defense counsel must litigate it aggressively.
Sentencing
Sentencing guidelines are implicated in the sentencing hearing. Many other factors are as well.
These includes the nature of the charges, the facts about whatever the conviction may be, victim impact statements (in Minnesota people defined as victims by statute have a right to address the court at the defendant’s sentencing), restitution (money that the court may order a defendant to pay to a victim, whether the victim is an individual, a group of people, an institution or corporation, or the state itself), arguments about the law that applies that may be made by both the defense and prosecution, and the defendant’s own allocution.
Allocution is a statement made by a defendant at sentencing to a judge to help the judge understand why a given sentence is appropriate. Very few criminal defense lawyers spend enough time with their clients in preparation for sentencing.
This is, in most cases, the last, best opportunity to get the most favorable sentence. a sentencing should be very carefully prepared for and orchestrated.
Rule 20 hearings
Rule 20 hearings are hearings in a Minnesota criminal case that determine one, whether a defendant can participate in their own defense, and two, whether a defendant should be held criminally responsible for their crimes (to the extent they committed crimes at all).
In a felony case, if a defendant is found incapable of participating in their own defense (pursuant to rule of Minnesota criminal procedure 20.01), the criminal case is held in abeyance until the defendant is restored to competency. Depending on the level of impairment, the defendant may never be restored to competency, for example if the defendant has progressive Alzheimer’s disease, or has suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, or is in a persistent vegetative state. But many times the defendant is medicated and provided rehabilitative therapy until they are restored to competency, at which point the criminal case resumes.
In the event that a defendant in a misdemeanor case is found incompetent to participate in their own defense, pursuant to the rules the case is dismissed.
In the event the defense pleads not guilty by reason of mental illness, the court will order what is called a rule 20.02 evaluation. This is an evaluation performed by a psychologist or psychiatrist to determine whether the defendant meets the standard in Minnesota. Minnesota employs the McNaghten standard, which means that if a defendant was not able to understand that what they did was wrong, that they cannot be held criminally responsible.
Sometimes the psychiatrist or psychologist will determine or opine that the defendant should not be held criminally responsible, but the prosecutor disagrees and insists on another evaluation.
Sometimes the doctor opines that the defendant was criminally responsible and the defense disagrees and has another evaluation. In rare instances the court can ask for its own evaluation.
In places where there is disagreement, a trial may be held on both whether the defendant committed the crime (that is whether the elements of the crime charged are each proved beyond a reasonable doubt) and whether the defendant Is Not Guilty by reason of mental illness. In the event that either a jury or a judge finds a defendant Not Guilty by reason of mental illness, the defendant will almost certainly be placed in a secure psychiatric facility. It is a myth that people found not guilty by reason of mental illness go free.
Post-conviction hearings
In the event of an adverse verdict, a defendant May file motions for post conviction relief. This can include something like a motion to vacate the conviction, a motion to review the sentence, or other types of similar motions. Post-conviction motions should be explored before moving to an appeal. Post-conviction motions are essentially always heard at the district court level (meaning they will be heard by the judge that presided over the case while it was pending).
Appeals
An appeal is an argument to a higher Court that the district court made a mistake. That mistake could be ruling against the defense or a mistake in sentencing, or a host of other matters. Both the defense and the prosecution may appeal a case. In the event of a not guilty verdict by jury trial, the prosecution may not appeal the case. but in virtually all other instances the prosecution may appeal.
The prosecution has an appeal right that the defense rarely does: the interlocutory appeal, which is an appeal during the pendency of the case. If the judge suppresses evidence that makes it hard for the prosecution to persist in the prosecution of the case the state may appeal that. In only a very few instances may the defense bring an interlocutory appeal. One example is appealing a bail order. If the defendant believes that the bail was excessive, that may be brought to the court of appeals. But most appeals by the defense happen after a final order at the district court level.
These appeals can concern virtually any matter in the case.
An appeal is a special field of criminal law, and a client should carefully determine whether the attorney at the district court level should be retained for the appeal, or a different attorney should be retained. Appeals require a similar level of expertise as trials, and very few criminal defense attorneys have mastered even one of those skill sets; rarer still are those criminal defense attorneys with both skill sets.
Some criminal defense boutique law firms have one or more attorneys specializing in trial work, and one or more attorneys specializing in appeals, in order to make sure that they can do the best job for their clients at all stages of all criminal cases.
An important part of appellate work happens during the pendency of the case at the district court level. The defense attorney should be thinking about what the case will look like on appeal, and ensure that everything that needs to happen to maximize success on appeal does happen. Of course the best outcome is winning at the district court level, but good criminal defense attorneys are running both defenses at the same time; both winning at the district court level and preparing for appeal.