A candid Q&A with Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, the House Judiciary’s rookie chair, who's a career prosecutor, a stalwart defender of equity and an opponent of racism, prejudice and privilege.
Read More »Police official: Chauvin trained to avoid neck pressure
Minneapolis police are taught to restrain combative suspects with a knee on their back or shoulders if necessary but are told to “stay away from the neck when possible,” a department use-of-force instructor testified.
Read More »Appeals court rules against service union
A dispute over wage theft and withheld sick time — and the repercussions from public comments made about those subjects — might be on its way to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Read More »No tools of trade means burglary conviction is reversed
The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed a conviction, saying that to prove guilt of second-degree burglary, the state must prove that the burglar had a tool for the purpose of gaining access to money or property.
Read More »Police chief: Kneeling on Floyd’s neck violated policy
The Minneapolis police chief testified Monday that now-fired officer Derek Chauvin violated departmental policy in pinning his knee on George Floyd’s neck and keeping him down after Floyd had stopped resisting and was in distress.
Read More »Justices tighten up third-degree murder law
In a decision with implications for the Derek Chauvin trial, the state Supreme Court has ruled that pattern jury instructions, long used by judges in third-degree depraved-mind murder cases, have been used in error.
Read More »Lieutenant: Kneeling on Floyd’s neck ‘totally unnecessary’
Kneeling on the neck of someone who is handcuffed and in the prone position is “top-tier, deadly” force and should not be used, the head of the Minneapolis Police Department’s homicide division testified Friday at Derek Chauvin’s murder trial.
Read More »How Floyd’s ‘spark of life’ played out at trial
The “spark of life” doctrine, which is rare outside Minnesota, is controversial among defense attorneys and could complicate the trial.
Read More »Ruling gives sex-crime bill Supreme boost
Last week’s unanimous State v. Khalil opinion, written by state Supreme Court Justice Paul Thissen, name checks Rep. Kelly Moller’s House File 707 and lifts a passage directly from it.
Read More »Schnell pitches early-release plan
Offenders could get out after serving half their time under the Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act.
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