This is a multi-installment article about a strange and ongoing Minnesota DWI case. This first part addresses the facts of the case and the legal process up through the jury trial.

Part I: How Homstad got stopped, arrested, tased and convicted

On New Years day, 2008, two officers were on patrol in Lakeville, Minnesota in an area known for criminal activity. The officers saw a vehicle parked diagonally with its engine running near Leo's South, a business the officers believed had been burglarized within the year. Because of the window tinting, the officers couldn't tell whether there was anybody in the running vehicle.

Officer Hanson turned his vehicle around to investigate. By the time he got there, the suspect vehicle had already moved, and the officer's vehicle passed it. Another veteran officer, Thoeny, believed that, based on his experience, the vehicle had illegally tinted windows. They pursued the vehicle and stopped it.

When the officers approached the vehicle, the driver, Christopher Homstad tried to open the door. One officer shut the door and told him to roll down his window. Homstad didn't immediately cooperate, so the officer opened the door. That's when he smelled alcohol, and noticed that his eyes were bloodshot and watery.

Homstad then turned to the officer and said "I'm drunk, take my car."
After exiting his vehicle, Homstad disobeyed the officers demands that he keep his hands out of his pockets several times. The officers grabbed his arms to take them out of his pockets.

That's when Homstad freed one arm and threw a punch at Officer Thoeny. A struggle then escalated on the ground. The officers, with the help of two civilians who came to help, were finally able to handcuff Homstad.

Even after being handcuffed, Homstad continued to struggle, and refused to get into the police car, so the officers threatened him with a Taser. He still refused to enter the vehicle, so the officer zapped him with the taser.

Based on his appearance, smell and behavior, the officers concluded that he was under the influence. He was transported to the Lakeville Police Station. At the station he asked to speak with an attorney. At that time the officers provided him with a telephone and some Twin Cities area phone books, and told him he was free to make a call.

Homstad told the officers that he wanted to call his personal attorney, but that the number as in his cell phone, which had been left in his vehicle. The vehicle had already been towed and impounded after the arrest. Instead of dialing any numbers, Homstad argued with officers for 15 to 20 minutes, and then sat there and did not even look through the phone book.
After 37 minutes, Officer Hanson told Homstad that he had run out of time to call an attorney. He then asked him to take a blood test, and Homstad refused, explaining that he "plead the fifth, I don't know."

He was charged with the following offenses:

• Second degree driving while impaired (DWI with a test refusal)
• Third degree DWI
• Fourth degree attempted assault
• Obstruction of Legal Process
• Disorderly Conduct

He moved to have the charges dismissed, claiming that the traffic stop was conducted illegally, and that he was denied his right to speak with an attorney before taking a chemical test. His motions were denied.

Before trial, Homstad asked the court to exclude all witnesses who will testify from being int he courtroom and hearing other witnesses testify. This is a routine motion in criminal cases, and the judge granted it. However, Homstad didn't comply with his own request, because, when he attempted to call a witness to testify for him, the prosecutor pointed out that that witness had, in fact, sat through the entire trial and heard all of the other witnesses testify.

The judge refused to let Homstad's witness testify, and ruled that his testimony was not vital anyways.

A jury convicted Homstad on all 5 counts and he appealed.

In the next article on the case, we will address the legal issues and explain how Mr. Homstad lost his appeal, and what his future options are in the case.