Category: Criminal Law
Summer Drive Time ~ Keeping Safe on the Roads
May 23, 2013 | Jon P. EricksonI recently read this article in Star Tribune’s newspaper titled “Deaths on state roads top 100 for the year.” It references the state’s seat-belt crackdown which began on May 20th. Once again there were some sobering statistics about the number of traffic deaths where no seat belt was used. In the past three years, “852 motorists have died in crashes and 42 percent (361) of those were not wearing seat belts.” We can, and must do better in getting the message out to all drivers but most certainly our young drivers! The good news is that seat-belt use continues to climb in Minnesota at some 93{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} as compared to the national average of 84{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3}. Let’s all try to improve this percentage. On Monday I was at the courthouse in Buffalo, Minnesota. When I came out of the courthouse there was a “crashed car” on a flatbed trailer with some signs on it. It was the car involved in an accident in Wright County in 2012. Its roof was crashed in, and one side of it was almost demolished. One of the signs on the trailer stated that the driver and occupant wore seat belts, and survived this obviously terrible crash. Making an effort to slow down and assure that you and all of…
Read MoreHow to Cope When Affected by DWI
January 28, 2013 | Jon P. EricksonA DWI can be scary for everyone involved. There are countless of people arrested every day in Minnesota for driving while impaired but we really only hear about the extreme cases or those involving famous people. The fact is that they are more common than you think and if you drive drunk, you are at risk of being arrested. If You are Arrested Whether a cop notices you driving recklessly stops you at a checkpoint or responds to an accident that you are involved in, if you have been drinking and driving you can go to jail. It is important to remain calm when approached by an officer and to say as little as possible. The more you say, the more you could incriminate yourself. If an officer pushes you to admit you were drinking, continue to remain silent or simply say that you would like to speak to your attorney. Even if you are not drunk, you should decline the field sobriety test because they are known for being unreliable. Even if you didn’t have a drop of alcohol to drink, you could fail the test. At this point, you will be arrested and brought into the police station if the officer believes that you are intoxicated. Do not resist arrest or…
Read MoreUnderstanding DUI – What Do I Do Now?
January 24, 2013 | Jon P. EricksonMaybe you’ve gone out to celebrate with a few friends at a local restaurant in Minneapolis and had a few drinks; or maybe you had a couple of beers at home and decide to pick up dinner. The last thing you expect is to be pulled over for a DUI but the fact of the matter is you don’t even have to be driving erratically to be pulled over. Why am I Being Pulled Over? There are a few different scenarios that can lead to you being arrested for driving while under the influence. The first is because a police officer sees you driving erratically. He will throw on his lights and maybe even his siren, signaling for you to slow down. A second reason is because you are approaching a drunk driving checkpoint. Here police officers will check every driver for signs of being drunk. A more serious reason could be because you caused an accident or were involved in a traffic complication so a police officer pulls you over to investigate the situation. No matter what the reason, you now are in front of a police officer and face being arrested. Even if you know you are legally over the limit, do not try to outrun the cops. This will only…
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