Minnesota’s Expanded Innocent Co-Owner Defense Allows Innocent Joint Owners to Contest Vehicle Seizures in DWI Cases

Minnesota DWI law

In 2017, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed into law SF 151, which fundamentally expanded an innocent owner’s right to contest the unlawful forfeiture of their vehicle. Now innocent owners enjoy more protections and will be able to force the government to return vehicles that would have previously been sold at auction.

Under Minnesota DWI law, the State may attempt to seize a vehicle when the driver is convicted of 1st or 2nd degree DWI. The “innocent owner” defense allows an owner of a vehicle to challenge the forfeiture if they can prove that they did not have knowledge that the vehicle was used to commit the crime or if they took reasonable steps to prevent the use of the vehicle by the offender. The Minnesota Supreme Court had previously ruled in Laase v. 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe, 776 N.W.2d 431 that the innocent owner defense did not apply if any joint owner committed an offense that led to the forfeiture. Because this case meant that *all* joint owners must be innocent in order to employ the innocent owner defense, spousal co-owners and other household members co-owning seized vehicles were out of luck. Often, spouses and family members would plead in court that they had absolutely no reason to know that their family member was going to drive while intoxicated, and that it was unjust to take their property when they had done nothing wrong. In the past, these arguments were deemed irrelevant in the eyes of the law, and the cars were taken and sold anyway. While spouses were the most common victims of this unfair law, many parents, children and significant others were also disadvantaged.

Thankfully, the updated “innocent owner” defense, found in Minnesota Statute 169A.63, subdivision 7(d), now allows *any* owner to challenge the forfeiture of a vehicle if the petitioning owner can demonstrate that they did not have knowledge that the vehicle was used or operated in a manner contrary to law. Because of this, joint owners, including innocent spouses, can now successfully challenge the forfeiture of their vehicle even though a co-owner was been convicted of a 1st or 2nd degree DWI while operating the vehicle.

Conclusion

If your vehicle has been seized as part of your spouse’s DWI charge, contact us today to discuss the possibility of contesting the seizure under the updated Minnesota innocent owner law. This law took effect on August 1st, 2017 and any potential forfeiture of a jointly owned vehicle should be looked at critically under this law.