Mike Brandt’s client was charged with a gross misdemeanor, Second Degree DWI, from an incident occurring on June 23, 2017, in Elk River, Sherburne County. Mike’s client was charged with DWI after the police confronted him outside his truck based on a report that he had violated a restraining order. After reviewing the police reports on the case, Mike challenged the manner in which the police arrested his client and argued that the police officer did not follow proper procedure and misled Mike’s client as to whether or not he was required to take a breath test. Mike raised these issues in a challenge to his client’s license revocation. In that case, the judge ruled that Mike’s client’s rights were violated by the police officer. This resulted in the judge ordering that Mike’s client receive his license back.
Mike then provided this information to the prosecuting attorney on the criminal case, who agreed that they would not be able to go forward with the DWI charge. Because there was the charge of violating the restraining order left, Mike did enter into a negotiation whereby his client pled guilty to that charge, but adjudication was stayed for one year, and Mike’s client was placed on probation. This means that no conviction was entered for this charge and as long as Mike’s client complies with the conditions of probation, the matter will be dismissed.