Minneapolis, Minnesota Criminal Defense Lawyers

Gallagher Criminal Defense Services

Main Office
Flour Exchange Building
310 Fourth Avenue South, Suite 8000
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415
USA

(612) 333-1500

www.Liberty-Lawyer.com

Contact Thomas C Gallagher

Law Firm Overview FREE CONSULTATION

Gallagher Criminal Defense Services, located in Minneapolis MN, has over 23 years of experience helping people with criminal defense services in Minnesota state and federal court. Minneapolis Criminal Lawyer Thomas Gallagher helps people who are under investigation, pre-charge, after arrest, criminal charge, through pre-trial and trial, to protect their clean record or avoid conviction and jail.

We can believe in Liberty and all of the legal rights and procedures designed to protect the accused. We can start with the assumption that an accused person is innocent, and question all "evidence" to the contrary. We can't believe a person is guilty of a claimed criminal act, if there is any doubt at all about it. Yes, the law is flawed, but it is an attempt to make justice equal for all - not just a matter of politics or money. The law is not a magical authority figure – like your parents or your religious deity - who will quickly and easily make all of this trouble just go away, like a bad dream. The law is simply a tool, available to those willing to use it to help themselves. With a goal, with time, effort and patience, we may find our opportunities and hopefully then, our success.

In criminal law there are basically two categories of law. The first is directed towards the government, and curbing corrupt, sloppy, and unfair practices of police and the rest of government. The other category of laws is directed towards common people – you and me. The first category of laws is more important, much of it embedded in the Constitution – “the supreme law of the land." In the second category are the criminal statutes providing penalties for common people who violate laws. Some of these are "common law crimes," like murder, rape, theft. Some have only recently been defined as crimes, such as marijuana, cocaine, certain sex acts, for example.

Therefore to properly defend an accused person, a criminal defense lawyer like Tom Gallagher, must first attempt every means to enforce the first set of laws - to uncover illegal conduct by police, whether by illegal search, seizure, or coerced or illegally obtained "confession." If successful, this can result in the suppression of illegal evidence from the trial. The next focus is upon the anticipated evidence at trial.

Year this Office was Established: 1988

Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: Criminal Vehicular Homicide (CVH); Violation of Order of Protection (OFP); Marijuana Laws & Defenses; Federal Court Charges; Property Crimes; Loss of Property Rights (Asset Forfeiture); Grand Jury Counsel; Pre-Charge Counsel; Witness Representation and Protection; Sodomy and Gay-targeted Crimes; Solicitation; Indecent Exposure; Search and Seizure; Forgery; Conspiracy; False Confessions.

Areas of Law Description

Gallagher Criminal Defense Services can handle every type of criminal defense cases in Minnesota state and federal court. In addition, it can successfully deal with certain "quasi-criminal" matters such as car forfeitures, asset forfeitures, license revocations, and other matters related to criminal cases.

- Homicide, Murder, and Manslaughter Crime Charges

Murder Defense Lawyers must prepare the accused and his or her family and supporters to mount the best defense possible, since the consequences of a conviction are most severe. Thomas Gallagher, as a murder lawyer, works to collect factual information, from police and from defense investigators; then analyzes the known facts of the case to determine the best available defense theory that fits the facts. Whether acting as a Manslaughter Lawyer, Murder Defense Lawyer, Murder Attorney, or other Homicide Attorney, Thomas Gallagher works relentlessly to uncover the truth, and defend the liberty and name of the People he represents. Being a Homicide Lawyer is a great responsibility - one that Gallagher takes seriously.

* Vehicular Homicide
Criminal Vehicular Homicide Defense Lawyers must mount the best defense under the circumstances. The consequences of a conviction are severe. Gallagher works to collect facts, from the government and from investigators; then analyzes the facts to determine the best available defense theory.

- Sex Crime Defense

Attorney Thomas Gallagher began working in this area of criminal law while still a paralegal and law clerk, on one of the high-profile Scott County Sex Abuse scandal cases. The case involved a woman who had her children taken from her for years, and criminal prosecuted for child sex abuse - all based upon what were later proven to be false allegations of abuse by a guilty man designed to sabotage the criminal investigation and prosecution of him. In that case, social workers, police officers, and prosecuting attorneys for the government all interviewed children and influenced them to make false, fantastic allegations of sexual abuse. We learned from this case and others that sex crime cases are particularly susceptible to both intentional and accidental injustices of monumental proportions.

* Prostitution
Prostitution has been called "the oldest profession." It has been around a long time. In the United States and around the world, governments have adopted laws that either regulate it or criminalize it and drive it into an unregulated underground economy. It is arguable that most social ills associated with prostitution are really the effect of its criminalization and criminal law enforcement.

* Indecent Conduct
We see people being charged with "Indecent Conduct" as a crime on regular basis. Normally criminal charges must be filed in a Complaint prepared by a prosecuting attorney. For misdemeanor crimes, police officers are allowed to "tab charge" an accused, subject to later review by a prosecutor. We've seen people being charged with "Indecent Conduct" crimes both ways.

- Drug Crime Charges

Minneapolis drug crime defense attorney Thomas Gallagher is well known of marijuana lawyers and drug attorneys. For decades Gallagher has publicly advocated drug and marijuana legalization, and has assisted and represented Minnesota and national legalization advocacy organizations and political parties. Minneapolis Drug Attorney Gallagher has handled every type of drug crime defense case, including large federal drug conspiracy cases, importation, trafficking, distribution, sale, manufacture and simple possession - state and federal.

*Possession
Possession of certain forbidden items, or contraband, can be made a crime - based upon the identity of the legally prohibited thing. Examples include certain drugs, certain guns and firearms, etc. To possess certain items can also be made a crime depending upon characteristics of the person in "possession" of them. An example of this might be an opiate drug in the hands of a medical doctor in a hospital; or an allowed quantity of marijuana with a cancer patient in compliance with a medical marijuana law.

* Marijuana Law
Criminal Laws relating to Marijuana in Minnesota are primarily state and federal statutes. A criminal case related to Marijuana in Minnesota could potentially be prosecuted in either state of federal court (or both), depending upon the facts claimed by police, and upon the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

- Federal Court Criminal Defense

Federal criminal lawyers are faced with defending their people in a court where the "Constitutional right" to a trial no longer exists other than in name. In practice, federal defense attorneys must advise the People they represent that under the federal sentencing guidelines, a trial tax has been made explicit, and institutionalized as part of the federal criminal law. Any person facing federal charges who dares to exercise their "right" to trial, can expect a much more severe prison sentence if they do not win the trial.

- Domestic Crime Charges

Gallagher has been working as one of Minnesota's domestic assault lawyers for over 24 years. In addition to criminal defense legal training and experience, Gallagher has education and experience that help him be effective as a domestic assault attorney, including education in Psychology, study of family violence issues, and experience as Respondent's counsel in mental health court (chemical dependency and mental illness issues).

- White Collar Crimes, Embezzlement & Property Crimes

White Collar Crime Lawyer Thomas C Gallagher has been defending People accused of embezzlement, forgery, bribery, fraud, theft and property crimes for over 24 years in Minnesota State and Federal Court. These have ranged from million dollar "white collar crimes" fraud and theft cases; $50,000 embezzlement charges; government official bribery cases, receiving stolen goods charges - even shoplifting cases involving mostly a good person's good name.

- Guns and Firearms

For over 24 years, Minnesota Criminal Defense and Gun Lawyer Thomas C Gallagher has been representing individuals accused violating a criminal law, including those related to Minnesota and federal gun laws - gun crimes. If you are a competitive shooter, hunter, or collector you probably know that gun laws have become more and more complex over the years. If you are not sure about how to comply with the gun laws, you'd best investigate and make sure you can and do comply. Basic criminal law in law school teaches that "intent" is a necessary element of every crime. An accident or mistake may mean that there was no "intent" to do the prohibited act. If it is too late now to go back, and fill out that form differently, it may be possible to defend such a case with an intent defense. If it's not too late, avoid shortcuts, be careful - don't put yourself at risk.

- DWI and Driving-Related

We don't hear "drunk driving" much anymore, now that the arbitrary limit in Minnesota for an alcohol concentration test is down to 0.08 (about half the presumptive threshold in the 1970s). Things have changed. The penalties for a Minnesota DWI are now severe and typically can cost a person $15,000 or more over a five year period, implied consent license revocation, jail or prison time, a special "whisky" DWI license plate, a car forfeiture, or even a lifetime loss of normal Minnesota drivers' license (with only a no-alcohol restricted "B-Card" license after years of no license at all).

- Juvenile Delinquency Defense

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a juvenile criminal charge. A juvenile Minnesota youth is generally not a "Defendant" charged with a "crime," but rather is the "Respondent" to an allegation in a "delinquency petition." This is an important distinction. Still, there are enough similarities to adult criminal cases that a juvenile attorney can loosely speak of "juvenile charges" and "juvenile defense." Gallagher is experienced not only as a juvenile lawyer, but also as a criminal defense lawyer, a civil commitment defense lawyer (mental illness and chemical dependency cases), and educational and volunteer background in Psychology and with Autistic Children. To the extent that traditional juvenile court is both a criminal, due process-oriented court, and a problem-solving court; these experiences and the resulting skills are valuable for Juvenile Defense Lawyer Gallagher's clients.

- Expungement

Minnesota law provides for various remedies and strategies for keeping your record clean, or trying to clean it up afterwards. Among those are "expungement" and "pardon extraordinary." A person may have rights under Minnesota expungement law under certain conditions; while, the same might not be said of "pardon extraordinary," since that remedy seems to be only available from a state pardons board, not through the courts.

- Asset Forfeiture

Criminal Asset Forfeiture involves the government seizing and forfeiting (or keeping private property without paying for it) private property from the owner, after the owner has been convicted of a crime. Sometimes this is called "Judicial Forfeiture" since the owner is provided criminal due process before their private property can be taken without just compensation. While Civil Asset Forfeiture involves the government seizing and forfeiting (or keeping private property without paying for it) private property from the owner, after giving some sort of notice to the owner of the proposed action, putting the burden on the owner of filing a court challenge (and paying a court filing fee, lawyer's fees, etc.); and without any criminal charge or conviction necessary. Sometimes this is called "Administrative Forfeiture" since the owner's private property is taken by the government based on some minimal notice of claims, with no hearing at all unless properly requested by the victim owner.

- Witness Attorney, and Pre-Charge

Criminal Defense Lawyers are Human Rights Lawyers, protecting people from abuse by the government and its police force. The most good can be done in situations where no criminal Complaint has yet been prepared or filed by a prosecutor. The sooner a witness or a police-target seeks and obtains legal counsel, the better it will be for them.