A man was charged with 2nd degree murder today in a Hennepin County Courtroom. This case arose out of an incident where a man was allegedly driving drunk and drove into a bunch of protesters in Uptown which resulting in the death of a woman. 

Normally, cases like this are charged out as Criminal Vehicular Homicide. Essentially, if you are driving drunk and you hit and kill somebody, all you have to show is negligence to get a conviction. The presumptive prison commit is 48 months to serve. Here, Hennepin County charged the man with 2nd degree intentional murder. While the standard is higher, he could spend 25 years behind bars. This promises to be a fight. 

Another man in Brooklyn Park was also charged with 2nd degree murder for killing somebody with a car. This man has been civilly committed in the past and questions of competency still linger. While this is different than the previous case, the fact that Hennepin County charged with with the more serious charge says something about how the County is handling these kinds of cases. 

I appear on WCCO Radio this afternoon with Chad Hartman to discuss this and other criminal cases that are taking place in Minneapolis and in St. Paul. Going to be an interesting conversation. 

If you are facing criminal vehicular homicide charges or any criminal charges, contact Jack Rice Defense for a free confidential consultation. Jack will talk to you about what you are facing, possible defenses and what comes next.