the best criminal lawyer in Minnesota is probabaly Stevn Meshbesher, spelling may be wrong ?
As this supposedly happened almost a year ago, I should hope the OP already picked an attorney. Then again, his posting this story would fit someone not getting (or at least following) good legal advice. $30,000 seems pretty low for an attorney in the Cities, for even a retainer. My choices are a $50,000 retainer to call them and was told to expect a $100,000 minimum if it goes to trial. And that does not me they will win. That is a pretty big incentive to know you are correct in your actions.
There used to be a saying that only the guilty hired Earl Grey or Ron Meshbesher. They kind of earned that saying and Ron's son, Steve, has received that mantel from his dad. I have several other attorneys other than these two highly advertised ones picked in the event I had to defend my use of deadly force.
I used the words "supposedly" and "story" as the event does not seem to have been recorded in any of the news outlets either local as well as Tribune/Dispatch nor was I able to find mention of it in the EPPD website. My appologies if the former somehow did not cover it and/or I missed it in the search of the PD reports but as I don't recall mention of such an incident, a couple local gun rights sites I'm on have no discussions on it, the errors contained, and public posting of such a story prior to adjudication are warning flags to me. The claims of bias regarding his bumper stickers also ring hollow, there are many such on the road and one does not see those vehicles over represented on the side of the road. I also question the traffic cam claim, I have requested and received traffic cam video over a month after the incident for an accident my stepson was involved in. I did have to request the info from MNDOT but it was provided. It might be 5 days it is available online but I have pulled video after a longer time than that stated.
Also, Mick (sic, it's Mike) Freeman did not try the case nor even bring charges against Derek Chauvin. That investigation was passed to another county (don't recall off hand, it was either Ramsey or Washington) due to possible conflict of interest. Charges were brought by that county and ultimately prosecuted by the State due largely to cost, especially for security.
First, the police generally can question the kids without a parent present. The kids are at least witnesses, if not victims, of a possible crime and can be questioned as such. It is when the kids are suspected of a crime that they have the right to have a parent and/or attorney present during questioning.
Second, it is a basic tenant of a MN carry permit class that one calls the police in such a situation. You have just committed a violent crime (threatening another person with a firearm) and not calling in such an event is a strong indicator of one's guilt. The call may not necessarily have to be during the incident but as soon as it is overawed one is safe, one should be contacting the authorities. Certainly, do not wait until after the police arrest you to notify them of your attack.
That same class would also have taught that one must also be able to convince the prosecutor, then the jury if it gets that far, they were in reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury. That is a tough sell as the OP was in a much larger pick up compared to the perpetrator's car. The pick up can be spun off by a smaller, lighter vehicle but it is harder to do.
On the same token, aggressive driving is not considered a deadly assault allowing deadly force as a response, again something that should have been covered in class. It may be threatening but threats alone are not considered deadly force so one is not allowed to use deadly force in response. It can be a fine line but it is hard to claim you feared for your life when one does not call the police when possible and chooses to go shopping instead. One's actions before, during, and after an incident will be scrutinized and any deviation from what a "reasonable person" would do raises question marks against the alleged victim. As already stated, calling 911 as soon as it is safely possible is one's first action, not doing so puts one in the suspect, not victim, category.
I'll stop here, there are other things that could have been done better but those I believe to be the highlighter ones. If nothing else, this should be a reminder that one should consider various eventualities and determine what their response would be within the law. It can help prevent a wrong action in the heat of the moment as well as afterward.
Again, I apologize if this is an actual event that I was unable to find through several sources. It is not a pleasant experience in any way, shape, or form. There were some missteps that put you in the position you are in and I hope your attorney can/has overcome them. That said, this post can be a lesson on what not to do. It is not an experience one wants to face.
