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Minneapolis Criminal Lawyers and Attorneys

Following Charges

After a defendant is charged in Minnesota, the accused has a first appearance. The defendant is told of the nature of the charges, advised of certain rights, and, if the person is in custody, bail is set.

Following a criminal defendant's first appearance, the prosecution is required to disclose the evidence it has to the criminal defendant or to the defendant's attorney. The criminal defendant is also required to disclose evidence he or she intends to introduce and certain other information relating to the defense. This exchange of information is called "discovery".

After discovery there is commonly an omnibus hearing when multiple motions, frequently relating to evidentiary issues, can be brought and heard. Occasionally there may be other or additional hearings between the omnibus hearing, a plea hearing or a trial.

If the criminal defendant does not plead guilty, the case proceeds to trial. If the criminal defendant pleads guilty or is found guilty at trial, he or she is sentenced.

Pre-Sentence Investigation

After a conviction, the court must order a pre-sentence investigation and written report. A pre-sentence investigation and report is prepared by a probation officer or the Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections and identifies the criminal defendant’s individual characteristics, circumstances, needs, potentialities, criminal record and social history; the circumstances of the offense; and the harm the offense caused others and the community.

Sentencing

The court must make a decision as to whether to impose and execute a sentence on the criminal defendant, stay imposition and execution of sentence, or stay execution of sentence only. The imposition and execution of sentence are two separate steps. The imposition of sentence involves pronouncing the sentence to be served in prison, but does not actually involve sending the criminal offender to prison. The execution of an imposed sentence consists of transferring the offender to the Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections’ custody to serve the prison sentence.

Length of the Sentence

If the court decides to impose sentence on a felony criminal offender, the court must sentence the offender to the presumptive sentence called for by the Minnesota sentencing guidelines or depart from that sentence, unless a mandatory minimum sentence applies. If a mandatory minimum sentence applies to the offender and no departure is allowed or, if allowed, no departure is granted, then the mandatory minimum sentence must be imposed.

Sentence Departure

A departure from a presumptive sentence occurs when the judge gives a sentence that differs from that provided in the Minnesota sentencing guidelines. When substantial and compelling aggravating or mitigating circumstances exist, the judge may depart from the presumptive sentence and impose any sentence authorized by law. If the court departs from the presumptive sentence, the judge must provide written reasons articulating the substantial and compelling circumstances supporting the departure and demonstrate why the sentence imposed is more appropriate or fair than the presumptive sentence in Minnesota.

When the court pronounces sentence on a criminal offender, the court identifies both the criminal offender’s term of imprisonment and the criminal offender’s supervised release term. A criminal offender’s term of imprisonment is equal to two-thirds of the total executed sentence. The time served may be increased up to the entire length of the executed sentence if the offender is required to serve additional time for disciplinary reasons.

Supervised Release

Supervised release is the period of time following the term of imprisonment in Minnesota. Under current law, the period of supervised release is one-third of the total executed sentence. In Minnesota, the supervised release period may be shorter due to additional disciplinary time served by the offender in prison. The Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections establishes conditions the offender must comply with during supervised release. If those conditions are violated, the commissioner may revoke supervised release and return the criminal offender to prison for a period not greater than the time left on the sentence.

Stayed Imposition

If a stay of imposition is granted in Minnesota, the imposition of a prison sentence is delayed to some future date as long as the criminal offender complies with conditions established by the court. If the offender complies with the conditions until the date set by the court, the case is discharged. If the criminal offender fails to comply with the conditions, the court may hold a hearing and impose sentence only and continue a stay of execution of sentence, or the court may impose and execute sentence on the offender.