# Kuhn v. Commissioner of Public Safety

> Court of Appeals of Minnesota · August 11, 1992 · 488 N.W.2d 838

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9659137

## Case

- **Full name:** Donald Anthony KUHN, Petitioner, Respondent, v. COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY, Appellant
- **Court:** Court of Appeals of Minnesota
- **Decided:** August 11, 1992
- **Citations:** 488 N.W.2d 838; 1992 Minn. App. LEXIS 829; 1992 WL 189096
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Kalitowski
- **Judges:** Amundson, Parker, Kalitowski
- **Cited by:** 37 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9659137

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- stating that the focus is “both on the police officer’s duties in vindicating the right to counsel and the defendant’s diligent exercise of the right”
- stating that the right to counsel is vindicated 11 even when the driver cannot locate his attorney and does not wish to call another attorney
- finding 24 minutes insufficient time to contact an attorney before being required to submit to a test

## Opinion text

KALITOWSKI, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. I agree we cannot say as a matter of law that 24 minutes is always a reasonable amount of time for a driver to consult with counsel. However, under the facts of this case there is no evidence to support a legal conclusion that the St. Louis Park Police did not give respondent a sufficient amount of time to vindicate his right to counsel under the Minnesota Constitution.
The police went beyond the minimum requirements for assisting in the vindication of the right to counsel by providing respondent with both a telephone and a yellow pages telephone directory. See *843 Friedman v. Commissioner of Pub. Safety, 473 N.W.2d 828, 835 (Minn.1991). The record contains no evidence as to why respondent was unable to contact an attorney or as to when, if ever, he would consult with counsel. Absent such evidence, it was not unreasonable for the police, after 24 minutes, to require respondent to make a decision regarding testing without consulting counsel.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9659137. Public record. Not legal advice.