Plea to an amended count of Failing to Drive with Due Care. This was an older client’s first offense of any kind and his BrAC was just over the legal limit. By getting better than a Careless Driving outcome – which is always the initial offer (and one most defense attorneys grab quickly) – the client was able to avoid possible job consequences and even loss of opportunities to serve on community B

Plea to an amended count of failing to drive with due care. This was an absolutely needed outcome for a client that does a lot of business in Canada. At a .12 breath alcohol level, though, getting anything other than a DWI, let alone an outcome better than a Careless Driving, is virtually unheard of. Undeterred by these prospects, Mr. Gempeler got to work to create the best possible plea negotiati

Plea to a petty misdemeanor failing to maintain lane control. A petty misdemeanor is not a crime in Minnesota. Knowing the State had a weak case with a .078 reading (though, the State can always call an expert to show that the alcohol concentration at the time of driving was above .08), the North Star team pushed it to trial, while continually negotiating with the prosecutor. On the day of trial,

Plea to a misdemeanor 4th Degree DWI. Client blew well over twice the legal limit. Still, without any legal defense, the North Star team leveraged an outcome that called for no jail or community service, a minimal fine, and unsupervised probation for one-year. This last part saved the client hundreds of dollars, too.

Plea to a 3rd Degree DWI. On a third time offense, the statute “mandates” 30 days in custody and an additional 60 on house arrest. With a very aggressive and strategic approach, the North Star team was able to get the prosecutor to agree to a cap of 45 days and let us argue to the Court on how that was to be served (i.e. jail or house arrest). With a strong sentencing letter submitted in advance,

Plea to a 4th Degree DWI – Misdemeanor. With no legal defenses available, the client was able to cut his losses, avoid a gross misdemeanor, had no further jail to serve, and the fine was minimal. An exactly identical case was called before it, and the defendant – with a different private counsel – was ordered to complete two full days of community service. Not for our client. We always maximize an

Plea to a 3rd Degree DWI without any jail to be served – a departure from the statutory mandatory minimum. The client was facing second degree charges due to a prior and the presence of her young child in the car at the time of the incident. Further complicating things was the fact that she was in a single-vehicle accident. Despite these issues, the North Star team negotiated a remarkable outcome

Plea to an amended count of Careless Driving as a misdemeanor. Typically, any plea to a lesser count on a 3rd Degree DWI is to a 4th Degree – a benefit, but still a DWI. Here, Mr. Gempeler worked out the rare negotiation to a careless driving offense. What makes this outcome even more impressive is the fact that the client’s prior was relatively recent and he was involved in a single-vehicle accid

Plea to a creative Careless Driving record. The client blew a .11, which was .02 more than the cut-off the city prosecutor typically has for offering a careless driving conviction on first-time offenders. But, through savvy negotiating, including a great relationship with the prosecutor, the North Star team was able to obtain this incredible outcome. A creative careless means that the client will

Stay of imposition, resulting in the gross misdemeanor being reduced to a misdemeanor after her successful completion of probation. This is a fantastic result for the client for a number of reasons. First, she was facing third degree charges because her child was in the car with her at the time. Typically, prosecutors are not keen on negotiating to a favorable result, let alone a misdemeanor. Seco