Kevin DeVore was the keynote speaker at the Ramsey County Bar Association Solo and Small Law Firm Continuing Legal Education Seminar on December 3, 2009.  Kevin spoke to the group of lawyers about the 2:00 a.m. telephone call when someone has been arrested on suspicion of DUI charges as well as the various facets of DUI laws.  The seminar included instruction on what to do when you receive the 2:00 a.m. call, the various types of DUI charges and penalties, license revocations, and vehicle forfeitures as a result of a DUI arrest.  Kevin has been invited to speak on this topic several times for lawyers groups.

Following a contested hearing and briefing by both parties, a Judge recently ruled that the statements made by DeVore’s client should be suppressed as they were taken without proper warning given.   The Judge ruled that the police failed to properly Mirandize or warn DeVore’s client that anything he said can and will be used against him in a court of law.  The Judge further ruled that the statements were taken while the defendant was “in custody” and that the statements were incriminating to the defendant.  As a result, the State will not be able to use the defendant’s statements as evidence against him at trial.

Even though DeVore’s client registered a blood alcohol level below the legal limit of .08%, the State brought charges of DUI.  The defendant tried to handle the case on her own, but was unable to get the charges dropped.  DeVore was able to get the DUI charge and any other alcohol related charges dismissed at the defendant’s first appearance with an attorney.

After being arrested for DUI, DeVore’s client asked the arresting officer for a chance to contact someone to conduct an independent alcohol concentration test following the Intoxilyzer test the defendant had just taken at the police station.  During the exchange between the police station and the jail, the defendant’s request was mishandled and ultimately the defendant was denied his right to obtain the independent test.  An implied consent hearing with testimony from several witnesses was necessary to flush out the details.  Following the trial, a Dakota County Judge ruled that police violated DeVore’s client’s right to an independent test.  As a result, the client’s driver’s license was reinstated.

Kevin DeVore was recently asked by Michele Tafoya to be a guest speaker on her radio show on WCCO AM.  Kevin was asked to join the show as the legal analyst.  Michele announced Kevin as one of the state’s top criminal defense lawyers.  Kevin provided Michele and her listeners with legal analysis and perspective about her shows topic.

Kevin DeVore navigated his client’s DUI through the legal maze in Ramsey County.  After being charged with DUI and having his license revoked for 90 days, Kevin filed a petition to fight the license revocation; he obtained a court order reinstating his client’s license; and he filed appropriate motions in the criminal case.  Kevin then negotiated a dismissal of the criminal DUI charges without going to trial.  After the criminal case was dismissed, Kevin led his client through the license revocation case, which was ultimately dismissed when the State failed to produce the evidence necessary to revoke the petitioner’s license.  The result:  no DUI conviction and no license revocation.

Roger Gershin, President, and David Risk address MSCJ meeting November 14, 2009

Are you, or is your attorney a member of the MSCJ Source Code Coalition?

There is a concern that some attorneys have filed documents in court incorrectly stating that the attorney is a member of the Coalition or that the attorney has retained experts when that is not accurate.

Prosecutors are moving against defense attorneys who have filed motions for the Intoxilyzer Source Code but are not actively pursuing analysis of the Source Code. At least forty (40) criminal defense attorneys have pursued Source Code Discovery but are not part of the coalition and have no plans to hire experts on their own to analyze the source code.

An attorney filing a Source Code Discovery motion must either retain an expert to analyze the source code on their own, or join the MSCJ Source Code Coalition.

Attorneys wishing to join the Source Code Coalition can click here for further information: MSCJ Source Code Coalition.  Prosecutors and Judges wishing to confirm defense attorney membership can also check there.  All MSCJ Source Code Coalition members are listed there.

DAN BROWNING and DAVID PHELPS, Star Tribune

A federal magistrate judge declined prosecutors’ requests Wednesday to detain an Illinois hedge fund manager who allegedly helped Wayzata businessman Tom Petters orchestrate what the government calls a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme.

Prosecutors argued that Gregory Bell should be held without bail because he has no significant ties to Minnesota, has millions of dollars stashed in offshore accounts and may have, or be able to obtain, citizenship in Russia, which has no extradition treaty with the United States.

Bell was born in Moscow in 1965, emigrated to the United States in 1981 and later became a citizen.

Bell’s attorneys argued that he’s been cooperative with government prosecutors and regulators investigating the Petters case, and submitted pleadings indicating strong family support in Illinois.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Keyes agreed that Bell’s personal and family roots are firmly established in Highland Park, Ill., and ordered him released on a $1.5 million bond. He’ll be confined with an electric home monitor and other restrictions.

“If he had set up a system for flight, he would have [fled] by now,” Keyes said.

In a related development, U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle agreed Wednesday to a motion by Petters’ attorneys to delay his trial so they’d have more time to prepare. Kyle set the trial for Oct. 26, but said he’d “look warily” on similar requests for a delay. More than a year will have passed since Petters’ arrest, Kyle noted. “In the court’s view, that is a sufficient amount of time to prepare, regardless of how daunting the task may have been.”

In response to a motion by the Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday, U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery issued a temporary restraining order that freezes the assets of Bell, his wife, Inna Goldman, and their two children. It also ordered a freeze on any funds held in an “asset protection trust account” Bell set up in the Cook Islands, and on a Swiss bank account that authorities believe may hold as much as $15 million. Montgomery ordered the money “repatriated” to the United States within two weeks and an accounting of Bell’s assets since Jan. 1, 2001.

Bell was arrested Friday in Illinois based on fraud and money laundering charges filed in a criminal complaint. He made his first court appearance Wednesday morning in St. Paul before Keyes. Bell also was present in the afternoon for the detention hearing. He had one attorney from New York and two from Chicago, all from the same law firm.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Rank, who is also prosecuting Petters on conspiracy, fraud and money laundering charges, outlined the case against Bell in a memorandum and in an appearance before Keyes Wednesday. He described Bell as “the lead person responsible for a fraud scheme resulting in a loss to numerous investors collectively of over $1 billion.”

Rank’s memo says Bell misled investors in his business, Lancelot Investment Management, about the structure of their investments with Petters Co. Inc., the primary vehicle Petters allegedly used in the alleged fraud scheme. From February 2008 to Sept. 24, 2008, when federal agents searched the homes and businesses of Petters and several associates, Rank said, “Bell directed a scheme to route millions of dollars to PCI, which was then immediately returned,” making it appear that PCI was a legitimate investment. As a result, Lancelot investors lost more than $1 billion, he says.

The government says Bell undertook an elaborate effort to hide large amounts of money offshore. “In June of 2008, while the fraud scheme in this case was unraveling, Bell set up a Cook Islands ‘foreign asset protection trust,’ which is touted as a vehicle for protecting money from courts and creditors,” Rank’s memo says.

Bell’s “Blue Sky Trust” account lists his wife and children as beneficiaries. The trustee is another Cook Islands trust, and the account has a “protector” that can veto any act of the trustee. The trust controls an account at the Wegelin Bank in St. Gallo, Switzerland, where Bell wired $15 million last August.

Bell claims he can’t access the money in the Swiss bank account. He says the trustee won’t turn it over because it considers Montgomery’s repatriation order as “duress.”

Bell’s lead attorney, Seth Farber, told Keyes that the defense was willing to take whatever steps necessary to freeze access to the offshore funds. Farber also argued that Bell’s cooperation with the government on both civil and criminal investigations was evidence of his intention to stay in the country.

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