Attorney John L. Fossum, of the Fossum Law Office, LLC was named as Certified Criminal Law Specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association. According the announcement from the MSBA: The certified specialist designation is earned by leading attorneys who have completed a rigorous approval process, including an examination in the specialty area, peer review,...
This week the Minnesota Court of Appeals took the Borg case, allowing the use of pre-arrest, pre-Miranda, and pre-counsel silence as evidence against an accused one step further, and decided that it was ok for the government to use a defendant’s post arrest silence as evidence of guilt. The case, State v. Johnson, rests...
Cromwell: Now, Sir Thomas, you stand on your silence. Sir Thomas More: I do. Cromwell: But, gentlemen of the jury, there are many kinds of silence. Consider first the silence of a man who is dead. Let us suppose we go into the room where he is laid out, and we listen: what do...
The Minnesota Supreme Court today issued a decision creating an odd new hole in the right to remain silent. Most Americans know through movies, TV dramas and Congressional hearings that a suspect has a right to remain silent. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that no person “shall be compelled in any...
The Minnesota Supreme Court this week issued its decision in the case of Walter Jamille Randolph, a case which arose in Rice County. John L. Fossum co-authored an Amicus Curiae brief in the case along with two other former chairs of the Criminal Law Section of the Minnesota State Bar Association. Walter Randolph was...
John L. Fossum of the Fossum Law Office, LLC again argued a case at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Mr. Fossum is an experienced and trial and appellate advocate, having tried cases in state court in Minnesota, and the Federal District Court for the District of Minnesota. Today’s argument...
The Minnesota Supreme Court today overturned the conviction of a man who was stopped in Corcoran, Minnesota for traveling 66 mph in a 55 zone and charged with driving under the influence and refusing to take a blood, breath or urine test. (DWI/DUI refusing) The court’s ruling was based on an improper jury instruction...
In what almost seems like news of the weird, a prosecutor’s office in Colorado has said that the lawyers who try cases and win convictions earn bonuses. Most public employees do not get bonuses of any kind, but this raises issues beyond the proper spending of public funds. Prosecutors have an ethical obligation to...
Recent Comments