Mark D. Kelly Criminal Defense

05/24/2026

ALL GAVE SOME, SOME GAVE ALL 🇺🇸
I have spent thirty-eight years representing veterans who were forever changed by thier tours of duty.
Service related mental illnesses are commonplace. PTSD, Anxiety Disorder, and Substance Abuse.
I have witnessed, and applaud, the evolution of how we treat service members who come before the bench. 35 years ago, i was largely on my own, begging for a measured response from the prosecutor and the judge. Sometimes to no avail.
But the development of veterans courts and now Minnesota Statute 609.1056 have mandated programming over incarceration when sentencing any misdemeanor and most felonies when the offense is proven to be related a service connected mental illness.
Supporting our Troops means Defending our Defenders.
Know that all who served in a combat zone gave a piece of themselves for our Country.
Happy Memorial Day

05/02/2026

Bail Hearing Paints Different Picture Than Initial Reports of Aitkin Couny Infant Death -
This story has just begun.
My client hired me when her bail was set at $600k. My legal team and i were succesful in reversing the false narrative presented by the police of a Mother's actions before and after the tragic death of her baby boy. Her bail was reduced to $75k and her family was able to secure her release from jail.
THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN.
Truth matters. Facts matter.
My client was, in the wake of her loss, was furtger victimized by law enforcement. The judge has found that the court was misled by the police.
This is far from over.

A field test that showed a presence of "heronie" in the child's bottle was a false positive

04/13/2026

LEGAL VICTORY
State of Minnesota v. KTS, Hennepin County, FELONY CHARGES
DISMISSED.

The District Court Judge held that the warrantless search of my Client during a routine traffic stop violated my Client's Constitutional Rights, Article 1, Section 10, as well as his 4th Amendment Constitutional Rights. Police Officer's search of Defendant's cargo pants pockets exceeded the permissible scope of a "pat frisk", in violation of Terry v. Ohio.
The Hennepin County District Court ruled that the items found in Defendant's pants pockets were not immediately apparent as evidence of illegal activity or a weapon (necessary to justify removing the items from the pants pocket).
The ruling was particularly satisfying given the presiding Judge's reputation in denying defense motions to suppress evidence.

04/13/2026

LEGAL VICTORY:
TMD v Commissioner of Public Safety, Anoka County
ORDER RESCINDING REVOCATION OF DRIVING PRIVILEGES

The District Court Judge found that the arresting Police Officer did not have probable cause to believe my Client was driving while intoxicated. Therefore, the Officer lacked legal authority to invoke the implied consent advisory and ordered that my Client's driving privileges be reinstated.

02/27/2026

Mark D. Kelly Nominated for Minnesota's Best Defense Attorney, Readers' Choice (Star Tribune). Thank you for your support!

10/26/2025

"Made for TV Movie" a true story.
My client was a single Mother of two young boys. She gets a "target letter" from a US Attorney.
She is told her name is on a "drug ledger" of a Mexican cartel, evidencing that she had received shipments dozens of Pounds of m**h and coke.
My client has a former friend and co-worker who is now involved in the drug business, but my client broke ties as soon as that got started a few years ago.
My client swears that she has nothing to do with drugs, but the Feds accuse my client of lying, and threaten that she will soon be indicted.

My client has a fiance' to whom she has sworn her innocence. Several months pass as my client lives in fear that she could be arrested at any moment.

On a Sunday morning, I receive an e mail from the AUSA.... "we have determined that the informant who gave us the drug ledger falsified entries in the ledger to wrongly implicate your client".... "we have therefore charged our informant with obstruction of Justice... will your client agree to testify at trial"?

HUH???!!!

I call my client who is stunned in silence... she says "I can't believe you are calling me on this particular Sunday... I am out of state with my family, I'm getting married tomorrow! This means I get to tell my fiance' (who always believed in me) that my innocence has been proven".

The informant inserted my clients name into an actual "drug ledger" and gave it to the Feds. According to prosecutors, the informant did this only out of jealously and viciousness... and only did this to my client.

Two young boys almost lost their mom, and tomorrow, in Fargo ND, a psychopath will be sentenced.

Questions:

How much time should a lying informant get?

What should be the title of the movie?

06/11/2025

In late April, a Wright County Judge ordered my client to be released from the Wright county jail to a long term treatment program.
I then called his MN DOC probation officer to discuss the DOC "Hold" for a Supervised Release Violation (that was preventing my client's release). The Agent to told me "your client is not available to the DOC".
What?! The jail tells me "but for the DOC hold, your client would be released. The DOC won't do respond.
So my client sits for another 4 weeks while I demand his DOC hearing (which by DOC rule must be held within 12 business days) Nobody at the DOC will listen.

Many hours spent preparing a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, asking the Wright County Judge to Order the MN DOC Commissioner to appear in her courtroom and explain why my client is being held without a hearing... basic due process of law stuff, right?.
Judge Strand signed the writ, Ordering the hearing!

5 days before the hearing, the same DOC Agent magically meets with my client and restructures him, releasing him to the previously approved treatment program.

I then get a call from the General Counsel for the Commissioner of the DOC, acknowledging that my client's rights were violated.

So much effort and time went into this project.

You can "fight city hall".
Sometimes, you must "fight city hall".

Credit goes to my staff and my client. Without the faith and efforts of both, I don't get this done.

12/26/2024

It is important for me to take the time to listen when my client is identifying their idea of the weakest link in the Government's case.
I was hired last summer to replace a privately retained attorney, who had told my client to expect a 60 month manditory prison sentence (gun charge).
Eight months later, my client received probation and no county jail time.
No "cooperation with law enforcement" necessary, just the right argument to the right Judge...and that argument started by me listening to my client.

08/16/2024

Numerous dismissals of late. Many more to come. But the day that stands out recently was when i visited a client in a nearby county jail. I greeted him with a strong "bro hug". He said, "thank you, that is the first time I have been able to hug anyone in months. They won't let me hug my family when they visit".
The psychological damage caused by incarcerating a fellow human being takes its toll. I think about my incarcerated clients every day. Doing all i can to reunite my client's with their families, protecting the freedom of those with pending cases, it is my motivation. Everything I do is a means to that end!

01/04/2024

Imagine calling a press conference to announce "we intend to follow the law".

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the new measures will require law enforcement and professional witnesses to release information prior to trial.