Results

Kelly’s client was convicted in 2008 in Sibley County of a Felony Methamphetamine Related Crime Involving a Child after the car he, a friend and her child were traveling in was stopped and police noticed a smoking pipe in his pocket. This conviction caused a lifetime ban on possessing firearms which meant he could no longer hunt for deer and pheasant with his father as he had since he was a child, nor teach his children how to hunt. Kelly convinced the judge that her client’s drug use was well in his past and that there was good cause to restore his gun rights. As a result, Kelly’s client may once again go hunting with his father and carry on family traditions by teaching his children how to hunt.

Kelly’s client was convicted in Anoka County at the age of 18 of Felony Third Degree Burglary for attempting to steal a bicycle from a garage, leading to a lifetime firearms prohibition. Her client, now 42, came to Kelly so that he could again be afforded the same second amendment rights and privileges as citizens. Kelly presented her client’s track record of being a responsible single father who had not been further involved with the law except for some minor traffic offenses. The result was that her client’s firearm rights were restored and the client can regain his place in society as a full citizen.

Kelly’s client came to her to restore the gun rights he had lost as a result of a 17-year-old felony vehicle theft conviction in Ramsey County that arose after he used his stepfather’s car without permission. The Ramsey County Prosecutor strongly opposed restoration due to the client’s several other criminal offenses since, but withdrew her opposition after the Minnesota Supreme Court removed the offense of motor vehicle theft from the definition of ‘crimes of violence’.  Based on the Supreme Court’s ruling and Kelly’s arguments the judge restored her client’s gun rights so that he may now go hunting again for the first time since he was 15.

Kelly’s client retained her to expunge a 2017 domestic assault case and a 2006 public urination case, both in Hennepin County. Her client had subsequently successfully pursued a graduate degree and career in accounting and finance but found his career hampered by these prior cases. His petition was denied at the district court level, with the referee finding that Kelly’s client did not qualify for expungement because he had been charged with a new recent criminal offense. Not willing to accept the result, Kelly successfully appealed the decision with the district court and had the referee’s ruling overturned, with the court affirming Kelly’s argument that the referee’s application of the law was incorrect and that her client was in fact eligible for an expungement. The expungements were both granted and Kelly’s client is now free to pursue his career without the stigma associated with a criminal record.

Kelly’s client came to her not knowing where to turn after being denied a permit to purchase due to a disorderly conduct conviction on his record from 2010 in Anoka County. After talking with her client, reviewing court records, transcripts of his plea hearing, and police reports, Kelly determined that the denial was caused by an imprecise conviction statute that could be fixed by specifying a particular subdivision and clause. Kelly persuaded the prosecutor to agree to the change, obtained court approval for fixing her client’s case records, and ensured that all agencies updated their files, with the result that her client’s right to possess and own firearms was restored.