Charles Alan Ramsay

Charles Ramsay is Minnesota's ONLY Board Certified DWI lawyer (recognized by the American Bar Association, not the MN Bar Association), and is also Board Certified in Criminal Defense by the Minnesota Bar Association. He practices primarily in the area of criminal defense, DWI and civil forfeitures. He has obtained acquittals in nearly every type of case from DWI to murder. He prides himself on being on the cutting edge of criminal defense. He helped pioneer a number of defenses in Minnesota, including faulty eyewitness identification, false confessions and the right of a defendant to present alternative suspects to a jury. In 2006, Ramsay testified in Court about the shortcomings of breath testing devices such as the Intoxilyzer 5000.

Ramsay has created new DWI defense strategies and is making massive changes in Minnesota DUI Law.  A few examples are Urine Testing, Blood Testing, The Implied Consent Law.  He also has successfully challenged both the administration of tests, as well as the source code behind The Intoxilyzer 5000, the breath test machine used in Minnesota.  Forty-Five years of established Minnesota DWI is in the process of dramatic change...change that can mean new opportunities for your defense!

*DWI Law Dead? -- Is the Minnesota Implied Consent Law Dead? His Appellate Victories and Supreme Court Cases!

*Blood -- Using Constitutional Right of Confrontation to Beat Blood Alcohol Testing to Win!

*Urine -- Judge Agrees: All Urine Test Results "Absurd"; Will Minnesota Urine Testing Finally Flushed Forever?

*Breath -- Ramsay Exposes Lack of Required Minimum Maintenance; Are All Intoxilyzer Results Inadmissible?

*Source Code -- He's Intervening in the Federal Law Suit vs. Intoxilyzer Manufacturer; while trial court judges have dismissed hundreds of breath test cases ... 

An effective appellate lawyer, Chuck successfully litigated Genin v. 1996 Mercury Marquis before the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled that vehicle owners need not pay storage fees when they win their forfeiture case.

In 2004 he prevailed before the Court of Appeals in State v. Bergh.  This case limits prosecutors' ability to use prior convictions and license revocations to enhance subsequent charges.  In yet another case that year, Chuck represented the appellant in State v. Blom, before the Minnesota Supreme Court.

In other notable appellate victories, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that a police officer may not stop a driver merely for swerving in his own lane of traffic in State v. Hugger, which he argued all the way to the Supreme Court.  In State v. Bergerson, the appellate court recognized police officers may not purge the taint of an illegal stop of a motor vehicle when the driver attempts to flee.

Ramsay prevailed in State v. Sickmann, where he convinced the Minnesota Court of Appeals to grant Sickmann a new trial.  The court agreed with Ramsay that the law which permitted blood tests to be admitted was unconstitutional as it violated the confrontation clause. 

Most recently, the court of appeals agreed the DWI test refusal law is unconstitutional.  Unfortunately, the state appealed the case of State v. Netland and the Supreme Court reversed the lower appellate court's decision.

See what issues he is pioneering today:

• Urine Tests
• Blood Tests
• Criminal Defense
• Forfeitures
• License Revocations & Cancellations