Criminal Law

LeAnn Sargent, Maple Grove councilwoman, charged with stealing from dying dad

LeAnn Sargent, a Maple Grove councilwoman since 1991, will continue to serve on the council despite being charged with stealing thousands and thousands of dollars from her dying dad and lying about it under oath.SEE ALSO: Maple Grove High School hockey scandal: Rumored player sex tape called "The Sh ... More >>

Keith Ellison: "Let's say that the war on drugs is over" [INTERVIEW PART 2]

This summer, Keith Ellison came under Republican fire on at least two fronts.At home, his GOP challenger Chris Fields made North Minneapolis' poverty and crime a campaign issue by saying Ellison hasn't done enough for black people, and abroad, Michele Bachmann tried to connect Keith with Islamic ext ... More >>

Derrick Catchings charged as adult in shooting of north Minneapolis teen

Derrick Deangelo Catchings, a 16-year-old from Brooklyn Park, will be tried as an adult in the murder of a teenager slain on his bike last summer in north Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. Catchings has been in jail since last September on a separate case, and made hi ... More >>

Lakeville locker-room photo scandal: 14-year-old allegedly given soda for nude pic

Last month, we told you about a locker-room photo scandal at Lakeville's Century Middle School, where dozens of students were suspended after an inappropriate cell phone photo of a student was widely shared. Today, Dakota County prosecutors filed charges. Three students -- two boys and a girl -- wer ... More >>

Emily's Law redux aims to punish 13-year-olds as adults

Bill author Rep. Torrey Westrom will have to push the bill through the committee process today, or it will be couched until next session.​On a June morning in 2006, Lynn Johnson dropped off her two-year-old daughter, Emily, at her daycare provider's house before heading to work. About eight h ... More >>

Daryn McBeth, agribiz lobbyist: People who photograph farms should be felons

dobakMaybe photos like this should be illegal?​It was just a week ago that lawmakers unveiled a new bill aimed at making it harder for the public to know what goes on in farms, slaughterhouses and puppy mills. But in that week, the bill has come in for a torrent of abuse. It's not hard to see ... More >>

Mahdi Hassan Ali, Seward triple-homicide suspect, presses age dispute

Mahdi Hassan Ali claims he was a juvenile at the time of the Seward Market murders.​Thanks to some chilling security video, Mahdi Hassan Ali stands accused of being the triggerman at the Seward Market in January 2010 when three people were gunned down in a gruesome robbery gone wrong. But Ali ... More >>

Michael Swanson claims insanity in Iowa double homicide

Swanson claims he was insane.​Seventeen-year-old Michael Swanson, famous for smiling and laughing after being charged in November with murdering two Iowa gas station workers in two separate shootings, plans to claim insanity as a defense when his trials start this summer.

Michael Swanson, accused in Iowa double homicide, will be tried as an adult

A second request to escape adult court is still pending.​Michael Swanson -- the kid who couldn't stop laughing after being accused of killing two people -- will be tried as an adult for at least one murder count. Last month, the 17-year-old requested to move his case to juvenile court where h ... More >>

Michael Swanson wants murder trials in juvenile court

Swanson isn't smiling now.​Michael Richard Swanson, the St. Louis Park 17-year-old charged with killing two Iowa convenience store employees for little more than cash and cigarettes, says he's too young to face the music as an adult. Maybe he's rethinking that happy perp routine outside the K ... More >>

Powderhorn Park sex assault suspect severs ankle monitor but later surrenders (UPDATE)

fibonaccibluePowderhorn Park neighbors gathered for a vigil after the attacks.​Four teenage boys were arrested after Thanksgiving Eve sex assaults in and near Powderhorn Park. Then came news that one of the boys, 15 years old, was on the lose. He'd cut off his ankle bracelet monitor and disa ... More >>

Letter from prison

Readers respond to "Cop Killer"

Mahdi Hassan Ali to be tried as an adult in Seward triple homicide

Mahdi Hassan Ali will be tried as an adult.​There case against Mahdi Hassan Ali looks pretty tight: He's on videotape pointing a gun at the men who were killed in a robbery gone wrong at Seward Market on January 6th, and his accomplice is ready to testify against him. But Ali's fate has also been ... More >>

Operation Streamline: An immigration boondoggle

Project Costs Millions, Tramples the Constitution, Treats Migrants Like Cattle, and Doesn't Work

No charges filed in sexual assault at Chi Psi

The first of three U sexual assault cases is closed for lack of evidence.​No charges are being filed in one of of three reported sexual assaults at University of Minnesota fraternities in recent weeks. "A thorough investigation" took place, which included interviewing both the man and woman i ... More >>

Do DWI laws work?

One in seven Minnesotans has a drunk driving conviction. Are we any safer?

Brandon Iams kills three in crash and gets six weekends in jail

Photo: Tomy Webster​Shirley Iverson, 71, her daughter, Debra Buhmann, 34, and her granddaughter, Alexis Iverson-Ferkul, 8, are all dead because of a teenage driver named Brandon Iams. The charge against him? Misdemeanor careless driving. The punishment? Six weekends in juvie, 100 hours of ... More >>

Brandon Michael Iams charged in deadly December crash

Brandon Michael Iams, 17, has been charged with careless driving inthe crash that killed three people two weeks before Christmas.

Officer who shot Fong Lee charged with domestic assault

The Minneapolis cop who shot and killed 19-year-old Fong Lee has been charged with domestic assault. The woman involved, the officer's girlfriend, was also charged with assault.

Bachmann associates pedophiles with gays as protected from hate crimes

Bachmann lists pedophiles and gays in her examples of who would now be protected under hate crime laws while grandmas and veterans wouldn't have their lives valued by U.S. law.

The Human Shield

John Delmonico defends those who serve and protect. Whether they deserve it or not.

3Q New Minneapolis Foundation President-to-be Sandy Vargas

3 questions: Tim Dolan

High Crimes

Daniel Otto and his girlfriend just wanted to get loaded one summer night. Neither of them imagined that she would wind up dead and he would be charged with murder.

Voices and Silence

It was no secret that Jason Molacek heard voices telling him to murder. Cops, counselors, his parents--they all knew. So why didn't anyone stop him before he shot his mom to death?

The Death Trap

What's wrong with Pawlenty's execution song

The Walls of Red Wing

The remarkable 114-year story of Minnesota's last juvenile detention home

Ashcroft the Avenger

Two Minnesota judges return fire at the justice department

Class Action

With 'Justice,' a pair of Twin Cities civil rights lawyers raise the bar for African American filmmaking

Trouble Finds Me

Play It As It Lies

Everyone knows political candidates stretch the truth. Should they be prosecuted for it?

Dragnet

A new computer database system called CriMNet is supposed to revolutionize crime fighting in Minnesota. Cops, politicians, big business, and the media love it.

Blame the Victims

Laura Goodman-Brown, Minnesota's crime-victims ombudsman, is about to become a victim herself. And she says it's a crime.

Trial & Era

When Sara Jane Olson goes to court in coming weeks, a Los Angeles jury will be asked to pass judgment on the most divisive time in recent American history.

The Yo-Yo Files

Why did it take three investigations, two trials, and one year of legal ups and downs to convict Alfred Flowers of sassing a cop? He may never know: Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and the FBI have declared the records top-secret.

Wrestling With Immunity

Minnesota has a code of ethics for its executive branch. It just doesn't apply to the governor.

Law & Disorder

Noisy party? Misdemeanor? Officer, do you know who you're dealing with?

Off Beat

"Love is Bigger than Government"

A profound insight or an empty Ventura-ism?

Unnatural Law

Chances are, what you do in bed is criminal

Restricted Access

Child protection hearings are now open to the public, but it's members of the press who will be scrutinized

Stool Pigeon

Sure, he's got an unfortunate knack for running afoul of the law. But that's nothing compared to his talent for getting himself set free.

Friendly Fire

When 12 COPS arrived at Andre Madison's house for a routine drug bust, they wandered into a ferocious gunfight with themselves.

Fall Guy

Larry Gould was a long-time junkie on the mend in a methadone program until he was lured into a drug sting. Now he's doing five years. But he made a few undercover cops look good in the process, and that was the important thing.

Camp Kiddy

Double Jeopardy

Down & Out in Uptown

Police and merchants appear to be stepping up efforts to get punks and panhandlers off the streets of Uptown.

The Trials of David Lillehaug

In the wake of Najarian and Shabazz, the U.S. attorney and former DFL prodigy finds his once-bright political future in question.

Making a List

Death Row Stories

During the 1970s the Supreme Court outlawed capital punishment on the grounds that it was applied in an "arbitrary" and "capricious" manner. Now it's back with a vengeance, but as a group of Minnesota attorneys is learning, nothing has really changed.