Today my office received great news! The charges against Mark John Kruse for felony Second Degree Assault in Marshall County, Minnesota, were dismissed by the prosecutor.

Mark John was accused of swerving towards two parked vehicles, both of which were larger than the one he was driving, by the side of a gravel road. There was no crash, no attack against anyone. The dismissal occurred just after a hearing where I requested that the Court require the prosecutor and the sheriff to disclose evidence that had not been provided, which I believe was being deliberately withheld.

This was a classic case of wrongful prosecution, of dragging someone through the legal system, and accusing them of a profoundly serious crime, when they did nothing wrong.

It was nice to see the dismissal, but it came after more than two years and hundreds of hours of work. It is scary to think of how innocent people can be accused of serious crimes when they have committed no wrong. This is not the first case I have seen where someone was falsely accused of a serious crime and unfortunately, it will probably not be the last.

Ed