State v. Serstock

I respectfully dissent. The questions before us are essentially (1) Does Minn.Stat. § 609.43(2) embrace conduct other than that specifically prohibited by statute? and (2) May violations of a city’s ethics manual, incorporating ethical codes of a lawyer’s professional responsibility, be the source of a claim that a prosecutor exceeded lawful authority and committed misconduct? I would answer both questions in the affirmative.

In dismissing the indictments for failure to state an offense, the trial court stated that only the legislature can declare specific conduct criminal offenses and that…