Minnesota Court of Appeals Overturns Sauk Rapids Man’s Felony Convictions

(KNSI) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a Sauk Rapids man who was found guilty of driving under the influence and fleeing police.

Curt Craven appealed to the higher court, saying the district court failed to get an intelligent waiver of counsel and wrongly deemed his right to counsel waived by deliberately delaying hiring a new attorney after he fired the first one. The higher court agreed and reversed his conviction.

According to court documents, in November 2020, Craven was charged with fleeing police and DWI. He was set to go to trial in June of 2021. In May of that year, the state filed an amended complaint, adding a second count of DWI. The trial was continued once in June of 2021 due to a witness being out of state and again in September of 2022 after Craven sent a letter to the court asking to fire his private counsel due to lack of communication and proper representation. The court granted the one time continuance to get a new lawyer, and “all parties must be fully prepared to proceed to trial on [a] new trial date to be assigned by Court Administration.” In November of 2022, Craven was in custody at the time for an unrelated matter and appeared at a hearing without counsel, saying he understood how to apply for a public defender but planned to hire a private attorney instead despite it being “nearly impossible” to access a phone to contact an attorney while he was in prison. The court, Craven, and the prosecutor all spoke after setting a new trial date for January of 2023 regarding the possibility that Craven’s right to an attorney could be “waived by conduct” and the potential consequences of proceeding without one. The court did admit it would be more difficult for him to find a lawyer while he was in custody, but the court warned again he could lose his right to an attorney by failing to make reasonable efforts to hire one. The trial was also delayed in December 2022 because he wanted to spend “quality time” with his young daughter. He also said he contacted approximately 20 private attorneys, only getting a response from one who wanted $15,000 for a retainer, which Craven was uncomfortable paying. He told the court that he wasn’t interested in a public defender for various reasons. His request was denied, and Craven appeared at a pretrial hearing representing himself and asked for standby counsel. The court questioned why he should be granted standby counsel “at 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before Monday morning trial.” The issue was taken under advisement, and the court found Craven waived his right to counsel due to his own conduct and denied standby. He was convicted at trial by a jury and sentenced to 72 months in prison with five years of conditional release.

The decision states the court “will only overturn a finding of a valid waiver of a defendant’s right to counsel if that finding is clearly erroneous.” Criminal defendants have the constitutional right to counsel in “all criminal prosecutions.” That can be given up via a waiver, waiver by conduct or forfeiture. “The district court has a duty to ensure a valid waiver of the right to counsel.”

The higher court agreed that Craven was not adequately advised of the consequences of proceeding without counsel and the district court made an error when it determined Craven was deliberately delaying his trial. The decision says Craven fired his attorney on October 4th, 2022, but wasn’t informed of the consequences of failing to secure an attorney until November 8th, 2022. The record showed he made numerous attempts to hire a lawyer, and given that he had sole custody of a young child, “likely hampered his efforts to retain counsel.”

The district court must now decide whether to retry Craven or dismiss the charges.

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