Star Tribune
Minnesota poised to expunge misdemeanor marijuana records as early as May. Felonies will be reviewed.
Minnesota is poised to expunge more than 60,000 misdemeanor marijuana records as early as next month, according to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The BCA has been working to expunge all misdemeanor cannabis records as required under the recreational marijuana law passed last year. State BCA officials had said they expected to expunge 66,000 misdemeanor records by this August, but the bureau is now on track to complete the work sooner.
The BCA recently sent a list of records that qualify for expungement to the Minnesota Judicial Branch. The judicial branch has until May 13 to object to expunging any of the records.
If the judicial branch makes no objections, the misdemeanor cases could be expunged as soon as mid- to late May, BCA spokeswoman Jill Oliveira said Tuesday.
A separate Cannabis Expungement Board has been established to review felony offenses on a case-by-case basis. Felony cannabis cases are likely to also number in the tens of thousands.
“Black and brown communities across the country tend to have been arrested at three to four times the rate for cannabis-related crimes. There’s a very significant equitable impact that can be had here,” said Jim Rowader, executive director of the Cannabis Expungement Board, who started the job last week.
Gov. Tim Walz appointed Rowader as leader of the Cannabis Expungement Board in late February, praising his “leadership and legal talent across public, private, and nonprofit sectors.” Rowader is a former Minneapolis city attorney who’s also worked for the ACLU of Minnesota and Target Corp.
Rowader said the expungement board could positively impact people’s lives.
“There is collateral kind of impact that criminal records have,” he said. “They can pose barriers to housing, education, employment.”
People who have their records wiped clean often can obtain better jobs and housing.
State officials have identified more than 200,000 eligible felony drug cases, but not all of them involve cannabis. Rowader estimates there will be at least 25,000 cannabis-related felonies for the board to review — if not double that.
“We still have a lot of initial work to do to really dig into the data,” he said.
The expungement board will not review cannabis-related felonies that involved violence, weapons or threats, as those are deemed ineligible under the law.
Reviewing all eligible cases will be an undertaking. The board is expected to have more than 30 attorneys and paralegals dedicated to the work once fully staffed, Rowader said, and it could contract with other legal clinics if more help is needed.
Rowader suggested the board might review recent cannabis felonies first. But he also wants the board to have a process allowing community members to bring their cases forward.
“I don’t think we want to be in a position where we’re saying, ‘We’ll get to your case when we get to your case,'” he said.
The board will soon begin meeting monthly and is expected to start reviewing felony cases later this year. Its five voting members will decide whether to expunge a felony record. Victims and law enforcement will be able to provide input beforehand.
“I’m very optimistic that once we get a good team in place, we can move this work along at a fairly good clip,” Rowader said.
A 36-year-old Alexandria man was sentenced to about four months in jail after pleading guilty to secretly recording employees at a hospital where he previously worked as a custodian.
Corey R. Johns was arrested in May 2023 and charged with one gross misdemeanor count of interfering with privacy. He pleaded guilty in June, and on Monday Douglas County Judge Michelle Clark sentenced Johns to 364 days in jail.
Johns will serve 120 days in the Douglas County Jail and have the remaining 244 days stayed for two years of probation. Clark also ordered Johns to attend a sex offender treatment program. He was ordered not work in a location where women routinely change clothes, possess pornographic material or have unsupervised contact with vulnerable adults or anyone under the age of 18.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Johns, Alexandria police responded to a call at Alomere Health in May 2023 after three female employees found a phone propped up by a shoe and pointed toward the changing area in a locker room. Before police arrived, Johns asked the women to give his phone back to him, the complaint states.
Johns told police he started recording employees in February and had also recorded in a co-ed locker room. At the jail, staff found a pen on Johns that he said was another type of recording device he had used, according to the complaint.
After the arrest, a spokesperson from Alomere Health said Johns was no longer affiliated with the organization.
“The safety and security of our staff has always been of the utmost importance. We are devastated that this has occurred and even the thought of this behavior by anyone is reprehensible,” the spokesperson said in a written statement. “The Alomere Health Human Resources team is working directly with employees who may have been impacted.”
Star Tribune
Nearly 10-year term for man who posted pic of him driving 150 mph before causing fatal wreck
A man has received a nearly 10-year term for documenting himself driving 150 miles per hour and posting his feat on social media moments before he crashed into the rear of another car southeast of St. Cloud and killed a passenger in the other vehicle.
Hunter M. Buckentine, 24, of Avon, Minn., was sentenced Monday in Sherburne County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in connection with the collision about 1:10 a.m. on Aug. 19, 2023, along Hwy. 10 in Clear Lake Township.
With time in jail after his arrest, Buckentine is expected to serve the about 6¼ years of his 9⅔-year term in prison and the balance on supervised release.
Buckentine was heading west on Hwy. 10 near SE. 97th Street in his Infiniti Q50 and struck a Chevy Cobalt from behind, according to the State Patrol. The impact sent the Cobalt into a ditch to the right, where it rolled several times, the patrol said. Buckentine’s car left the road, caught fire and hit a line of trees.
The Cobalt’s passenger who died was identified as Jordan D. Kramer, 34, of Clarissa, Minn. Kramer died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, the patrol said. Another passenger, Candice C. Pooler, 39, also of Clarissa, sustained critical injuries, according to the patrol. The Cobalt’s driver, Lindsey K. Soiseth, 35, of Lake Lillian, Minn., also survived her injuries.
Also suffering noncritical injuries were Buckentine and his passenger, 21-year-old Trenton C. Michels, 22, of Becker, Minn., the patrol said.
Court records show that Buckentine’s driving history includes three convictions for speeding and another for careless driving in connection with him crashing his car in May 2022 east of St. Cloud in Santiago Township.
Star Tribune
Man accused of Lyndale Avenue gunfire, homicide near Willmar is ID’d by law enforcement
A murder charge could come as soon as Thursday against a 25-year-old man who’s accused of firing shots from an apartment balcony in the heart of Minneapolis’ Lyn-Lake neighborhood before he fled and shot two people near Willmar as he attempted in vain to evade law enforcement in a high-speed chase.
The suspect, who is from Hopkins, remains held without bail in the Kandiyohi County jail on suspicion of second-degree murder in connection with a shooting Tuesday afternoon.
Kandiyohi County Attorney Shane Baker said he’s not expecting to file charges Wednesday. Charges are also pending in Hennepin County stemming from the early afternoon gunfire. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged. Minnesota court records show nothing in the man’s criminal background other than a minor drug paraphernalia conviction and numerous parking and driving violations.
Tuesday’s events unfolded shortly before 1 p.m., when police were called to an apartment complex at the 2900 block of Lyndale Avenue S., where the man fired off several rounds into the street from the building’s top floor.
Police shuttered the busy intersection and surrounding blocks from W. 28th to Lake streets in the densely populated commercial and residential corridor as they attempted to negotiate his surrender.
According to a Tuesday night release from the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office, the man traveled west through several counties and then shot and injured a man at a rural Kandiyohi County residence. Police say the suspect then fatally shot a motorist that he attempted to carjack at the Hwy. 71 and Hwy. 23 bypass southeast of Willmar. Police were eventually able to take the man into custody. He was jailed in Kandiyohi County on charges that include murder.
A medical examiner will release the victim’s name after an autopsy and family is notified.
“Today, multiple lives were put in harm’s way, with one person sadly losing their life,” Kandiyohi County Sheriff Spokesperson Imran Ali said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. Please continue to hold the victims, their families and our first responders in your prayers today.”
