State of Minnesota v. Robert Allen Bennett

Elk River, Minnesota second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant.



Bennett pleaded guilty to second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.222, subd. 1 (2022), and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.487, subd. 3 (2022), based on the following facts. On an evening in October 2022, Bennett consumed alcohol before driving. A sheriff's deputy stopped Bennett for an equipment violation. Bennett told the deputy that he had a gun in the vehicle, and the deputy instructed him not to touch it. Bennett refused to submit to a field-sobriety test, and instead reached for the gun against the deputy's continued instructions. He pointed the gun directly up at the roof of his vehicle and did not point it at the deputy or at himself. The deputy feared that Bennett was going to shoot him, so the deputy pulled his firearm, retreated from the vehicle, and instructed Bennett to put his hands outside his window and not reach for the gun. When the deputy returned to his squad car, Bennett started the vehicle and slowly drove away.



The deputy followed Bennett to his home. Bennett exited his vehicle with the gun in his hand, and the deputy exited his squad car and instructed Bennett to stop and drop the gun. Bennett pointed his gun in the air, pointed it at the deputy, then pointed it back in the air. Bennett then entered his garage and closed the door.



Bennett eventually exited his home after an hour and a half of telephone conversations with other officers, and the officers placed him under arrest. At the plea hearing, and in an affidavit he submitted before sentencing, Bennett acknowledged that his actions scared the deputy but explained that he had planned to use the gun to kill himself and never meant to hurt anyone else.



Throughout the criminal proceedings, Bennett remained sober and complied with the district court's order to use a daily alcohol monitor. He also voluntarily completed an intensive outpatient chemical-dependency treatment program, began seeing an individual therapist, and attended Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. The district court granted his motion for a downward dispositional departure and placed him on probation. As relevant to this appeal, the district court conditioned Bennett's probation on continued sobriety, participation in individual therapy, and participation in AA.