Family Law

• Child Abuse

Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  Earl Gray fits the description, and for his decades of efforts in the courtroom, he was, earlier this month, given a Distinguished Service Award from the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
• DUI/DWI
  A jury found Scott Gerald Geving, 50, the former Stillwater police officer accused of inappropriate sexual behavior while on duty, not guilty on all counts related to the allegations.

"Justice was done," said Earl Gray, Geving's attorney. "Clearly, he was not guilty of attempting to have criminal sexual conduct with that young woman. No other verdict could have been rendered with this evidence."

Geving's trial was heard over the course of three days this week in Washington County District Court. It is the first of two trials related to allegations of impropriety by Geving while on duty as a Stillwater police officer.

Geving, who was with the Stillwater Police Department for 11 years, resigned earlier this year.

This week's trial stemmed from allegations from Aug. 20, 2008, when Geving, on duty, stopped in at the Super 8 Motel for a walk through.

A 46-year-old woman was on duty as a clerk. She accompanied him on the walk through.

Gray says that Geving had met the alleged victim almost a decade ago, on the first of around 10 police calls that he'd been called to at her home. Her son was difficult to control, Gray said, and Geving seemed to have an ability to calm him down.

On Aug. 20, when the two returned to the front desk, Geving put his hand on the woman's back. The two later kissed.

The prosecution alleged that Geving had, while having the woman show him where the restroom was, grabbed her hand and pulled it down to his groin. Gray said that did not happen.

There were two pieces of evidence that were mentioned by the prosecution, but both had been erased before trial.

First, a video of Geving in the hotel that night. The video had been erased when police asked the hotel manager to make a copy, something he'd never done before.

There was also a text message that the woman had allegedly sent to her son, asking him to come to the hotel lobby because she felt odd about her interactions with Geving that night. The text message had also been erased.

Phillip Prokopowicz, of the Dakota County Attorney's office, tried the case on behalf of Washington County to avoid a conflict of interest. A 10th District judge who usually does not oversee cases in Washington County heard the trial. Prokopowicz, who heads the Dakota County Attorney's office, filled in for another attorney who was supposed to take the case, but had a conflicting murder trial this week.

"Obviously, we are disappointed in the verdict," Prokopowicz said. "However, the jury has made its decision."

Geving was found not guilty on one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, and two counts of misconduct by a public officer.

Geving's next trial will start Jan. 25. In that case, he allegedly offered a woman to be let off for a DWI arrest in exchange for sex.

He is also accused of stalking the woman while on duty in 2006. He has been charged with two counts of f
• Traffic Violations
  Jurors deliberated about four hours before finding Kozlowski not guilty on five counts of negligent homicide, seven felony counts of causing great bodily harm by reckless driving and 21 misdemeanor counts of causing injury by reckless driving.
• Sex Crimes
  By Nathan Bowe. Detroit Lakes Newspapers. <%= simple_format(simple_format("Good thing there was a box of tissues next to the witness stand - Thursday was an emotional day of testimony at the Robert Briard sexual abuse trial, as the victim and main prosecution witness took the stand. It was also a day of parry and thrust between Becker County Attorney Mike Fritz and defense attorney Earl Gray, with repeated objections raised by both sides, and frequent lengthy conferences at the bench before Judge Peter Irvine. At one point, Irvine sustained Fritz's objection that Gray was badgering the witness. On another occasion, the judge admonished Gray for not letting the witness attempt to answer before demanding a yes or no answer. Robert Briard, 62, a well-known hog farmer in rural Frazee, is charged with first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly molesting a relative on two occasions. Once when she was eight and again when she was 14. The victim, now a married woman in her early 30s, testified that Robert and Virginia Briard were very controlling of their eight children, and raised them in a very religious, very strict atmosphere. The woman testified that on her eighth birthday, Briard had come in from doing chores, joined her on a couch in the unoccupied, darkened living room, and gently put a hand down her pants, touching her private parts, then moved his hand lower and penetrated her with a finger several times. \"He asked me if it felt good,\" she said. \"It must have been horrific, because I've never forgotten it.\" She said Briard stopped when his wife, Virginia, came towards the living room from the kitchen. Afterward her relationship with Briard, a close relative, continued as usual. When she was 14, she testified that she was also touched in a sexual way when Briard visited her bedroom several times in one night after he had been at WE Fest. \"It was very, very awkward and icky,\" she said, crying. \"I couldn't sleep that whole night.\" \"How did that make you feel?\" Fritz asked. \"I've never forgotten it,\" she said simply. \"You just avoid at all costs any contact (with Briard). Hurry up and make breakfast, then it just gets over, that icky feeling, the next day, and then it's done.\" She said she never talked about the incidents until she was an adult because of the family's dynamics. \"I think it's because we had a big Christian family, such a hypocritical façade, to be one person making those kind of problems, you just didn't...\" She said she never intended to reveal the secret, but it came out anyway, on March 6, 2006, when the victim, her mother and two other women in the family had gathered for a get-together where they drank some wine and talked. But when one of the women started to share personal experiences of sexual abuse as a child, memories of what happened when she herself was 8 and 14 overcame the victim and she started crying and couldn't stop shaking. Her statement fell like a bombshell, at first split th
• Fraud
  A New York man who claimed entrapment was acquitted Thursday by a federal jury in Minneapolis of charges that he plotted to extort money and property from several East Coast people. After deliberating for a day, the jury found Kambiz Youssefi, 27, of Great Neck, N.Y., not guilty of one count each of extortion and mail fraud and six counts of wire fraud.
• Robbery
  McField, who is now in prison in Missouri for armed robbery, said he walked into a dark bedroom and saw Jones appearing to have sexual intercourse with the woman. He said he then saw Jones pull off his condom and finish the act on her face. The video, however, showed no penetration and Jones' semen was not found on any of the used condoms in the apartment.
• Burglary
• White Collar Crimes
  Your choice of a Minneapolis white collar criminal lawyer may be the difference between freedom and a loss of liberty. Because white collar crimes require defense in either state or federal court, the Minneapolis white collar crime lawyer you select must have the knowledge and a network to protect your interests in either legal arena. Earl Gray, white collar criminal attorney, is ready to defend you in both state and federal courts on any of the following white collar crimes...
• Theft
• Misdemeanors
  A judge ruled there wasn't probable cause to determine a crime was committed by Culpepper, one of four Minnesota Vikings accused of misdemeanor lewd conduct during the cruise last fall on a suburban lake. Culpepper has since been traded to the Miami Dolphins.
• Embezzlement
• Drug Crimes
• Assault
• Murder
  The courtroom erupted in cries of "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" when a Ramsey County jury late Wednesday acquitted Aaron W. Foster in his girlfriend's death in a case that stretches back more than 27 years. It was Barbara (Bobbi) Winn's family members who did most of the shouting. Several young men stormed out of the courtroom, swearing. Several jurors sobbed as the verdict was read. District Judge Edward J. Cleary immediately told Foster, 56, that he was free to go, and he and his attorney, Earl Gray, ducked into Cleary's chambers. Foster, who has not been in custody, had no comment when he left the courthouse later. Winn died from a single gunshot wound to the chest early on May 8, 1981, in the Maplewood townhouse that she shared with her three children and on and off with Foster. No charges were brought in 1981, but the case was reopened in 2006 by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office during a contentious election for sheriff between Sheriff Bob Fletcher and former St. Paul Police Chief Bill Finney, a longtime friend of Foster's who was called to testify during the trial. Foster was indicted by a grand jury in November on charges of third-degree murder. The verdict did nothing to assuage the Winn family's belief that Foster killed her. "If this had been done when it should have been done, in 1981, Foster would have been in prison," Patty Bruce, Winn's sister-in-law and the family's spokeswoman, said after the verdict.
• Homicide
  During his closing, Johnson again showed the jury photos of fresh bruises and abrasions on Winn's face, arm and hands. Anoka County Medical Examiner Janis Amatuzio testified that the injuries were inflicted within an hour of Winn's death. But both Amatuzio, who reviewed the case in 2007, and Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael B. McGee, who performed the autopsy the day Winn died, said they could not exclude suicide, homicide or accident in Winn's death. The manner of her death is "undetermined," both said. Gray told jurors Wednesday that it took 27 years but Foster "finally got his day in court." In his closing argument, Gray reiterated that gunshot residue was found on both of Winn's hands but not on Foster's. He asked jurors to look at the credibility of witnesses, their interest in the outcome and their inconsistent statements. A lot was missing All the physical evidence in the case was destroyed or lost long ago, but Cleary allowed photographs of some items admitted into evidence. Many of Foster's statements to police the night Winn died were suppressed because police did not read him his rights. Grady Meadows, former owner of the Tipsy Tiger, testified that he saw Foster slap Winn at the bar and threaten her the night she died. Winn's sister, Earmel Jean Tatum, said she saw Foster slap Winn in the face, and family friend Brenda Jones said Winn was holding her face as though she'd been slapped. But all said they never talked to police until the case was reopened in 2006-07.
• Arson
• Restraining Order
  "He got away with it. "It doesn't change what happened, though. He murdered her. He's a murderer." Foster maintained all along that Winn shot herself. During his closing argument Wednesday morning, defense attorney Earl Gray used a toy gun to illustrate how she could have gripped the gun with both hands and fired the fatal shot. What is clear about the night Winn died is that she and Foster argued at the Tipsy Tiger bar and she told him to move out. Winn's sons, 15 and 12 at the time, testified last week that they were awakened by the argument and sounds of a struggle after their mother returned home. Tyrone Winn, the younger son, said he heard a loud noise -- the gunshot -- then heard his mother say, "Oh Bubbie, that hurt." The boys ran into their mother's bedroom to find Foster running out. Their mother was slumped over at the waist in a corner of the room. Tyrone testified that Foster told the boys, "Look out, she shot herself." How the prosecution saw it Prosecutor Andrew Johnson said after the verdict that he and co-prosecutor Deidre Aanstad were "disappointed but we respect the (jury's) decision." Prosecutors had argued that Winn was not suicidal. In fact, they said, she was happy she was finally breaking free of Foster and planned to get a restraining order against him. The crime likely played out this way, Johnson told jurors Wednesday morning: Foster was already angry with Winn because she'd told him to move out. He beat her up and may have put the gun to her chest to scare or intimidate her. There was a struggle and the gun went off. Finney testified last week about an incident of domestic violence he witnessed between the couple in Finney's car in December 1980.
• Forgery
• Money Laundering
• Kidnapping
  Youssefi "was very happy with the verdict. His mother has been crying for six months," Gray said. According to the indictment, Youssefi, the manager of a Manhattan wholesale clothing distributor, hired an undercover FBI agent posing as a hit man last June in Minneapolis to pressure six people to sign over their properties to him. Youssefi also requested the kidnapping of two children of one of his business rivals as part of the plot, the indictment states. He allegedly agreed to pay the man $20,000 per victim.
• Manslaughter
  A Burnsville man has been acquitted of second-degree manslaughter and four other charges in connection with the fatal shooting of his best friend nearly a year ago.
• Internet Crimes
• Prostitution
  Gray said that Montpetit was hospitalized for depression after both his arrest and trial. In July he suffered a heart attack and had triple-bypass surgery. Meanwhile, Gray said, Montpetit has lost more than $200,000 in his bar business and stands to be stripped of his remaining liquor licenses because of the felony conviction. After the prostitution charges surfaced, Montpetit closed his Oz nightclub and Montanita's restaurant in downtown St. Paul. He still operates the All-American Bar in St. Paul and a Montanita's in Minneapolis.
• Extortion
  In 1994, he successfully claimed federal entrapment when his client, Iranian immigrant Kambiz Youssefi of New York, faced charges in an alleged extortion plot involving planned kidnappings, a Greek drug dealer and an FBI agent posing as a hit man. Youssefi was acquitted.

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