Minneapolis DWI Attorney Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is Frank v. Commissioner of Public Safety (Decided July 25, 2016, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that the police will "tailor" their testimony to avoid the impact of a previous appellate court decision.

In this case, Mr. Frank was driving his pickup truck in Crow Wing County at approximately 12:35 a.m.  A police officer was driving his squad in the opposite direction and as the two vehicle approached each other, Mr. Frank flashed his bright lights, "very briefly". The police officer then turned around and stopped Mr. Frank, who was subsequently arrested for DWI.

Mr. Frank challenged the validity of the stop of his vehicle in a license revocation hearing but the district court upheld the revocation.  

Minn. Stat. § 169.61(b) provides that, "[w]hen the driver of a vehicle approaches a vehicle within 1,000 feet, such driver shall use a distribution of light, or composite beam, so aimed that the glaring rays are not projected into the eyes of the oncoming driver." But in Sarber v. Commissioner of Public Safety, 819 N.W.2d 465 at 471-472 (Minn. App. 2012) the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that the statute, "Does not prohibit drivers from momentarily flashing their high beams at oncoming traffic, so long as the flashing is brief and conducted in such a manner that it does not blind or impair other drivers." 

So what did the officer testify to in this case?  The officer testified "that appellant's headlights were 'extremely bright,' to the extent that they 'literally just about blinded [him].' The officer testified that he pulled onto the shoulder and stopped because he was blinded by appellant's headlights. 

RIGHT! The problem is the district court bought the officer's testimony and on appeal, the appellate court will not reverse a finding of fact unless it is clearly erroneous as the appellate court is not in any position to judge the credibility of a witness.

Moral Of The Story: Be careful who you flash!

If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minneapolis DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.