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In 1997 when he was 18, Kelly’s client sold $50 worth of marijuana to a confidential informant in a Taco Bell parking lot in Moorhead, Clay County, and was convicted of Felony Fifth Degree Sale of a Controlled Substance. He went on to a successful career in the music industry and but missed hunting. He finally hired Kelly when his son expressed an interest in hunting, because he did not want his conviction to hold back his son’s interests. Following a hearing in which her client was praised for his productive life since his offense, her client can now go hunting with his son.

When Kelly’s client was 18, his roommate got into an argument that evolved into a fight. Kelly’s client attempted to defend his roommate and hit the attacker with a tire iron, ultimately resulting in his conviction for Felony Third Degree Assault in Dakota County. In the years following the offense, her client matured and established a successful career in trucking, longing to hunt once again with a firearm. Kelly was able to demonstrate good cause to the judge, convincing him to restore her client’s gun rights and showing her client was not a threat to public safety. Now her client is looking forward to hunting pheasant, which is nearly impossible with a bow.

Kelly’s client retained her before applying for a permit to carry due to a long criminal history from before he became sober, much of which he barely remembered. Kelly examined his extensive criminal record and court documents to determine that, despite his many convictions and having served time in prison for Felony DWI, the only charges on his Minnesota record that would cause him problems with gun rights were three Theft of Motor Vehicle convictions from Chisago, Ramsey and Dakota Counties. As these charges were considered crimes of violence under Minnesota State law at the time her client was released from probation, he became subject to a lifetime ban on possessing firearms. Although the Minnesota Supreme Court determined in 2020 that the Minnesota Legislature intended through subsequent amendments to the law to remove this offense from the list of crimes of violence, a judicial order was still needed to update Federal records. Kelly was able to obtain the appropriate paperwork showing her client’s rights were restored. As soon as he clears up issues related to convictions in another state, he will be able to receive his permit to carry and update his federal records so that he can purchase firearms without denial or delay.  

Kelly’s client and his mother, while traveling through Rice County to look at colleges, got into an argument that led to them hitting each other and her client being convicted of Misdemeanor Domestic Assault. Since the offense, Kelly’s client went on not only to finish college but to complete a PhD program in Biochemistry and several post-doctoral programs. Now in the job market to become a professor, he found himself losing competitive opportunities due to the old domestic assault conviction that still appeared on background checks. Kelly was able to convince the judge that her client had rehabilitated. The expungement was fully granted and her client can now apply and contend for his dream teaching positions without being held back by his conviction.    

Kelly’s client sold an eighth of an ounce of marijuana to a confidential informant while in college and was convicted of Felony Fifth Degree Possession in 2001 in Beltrami County. He was forced to leave college as a result of the offense but later went back, eventually graduating from the Minnesota School of Business. He also got married, had three sons and established a successful banking career. But none of those many successes could restore his gun rights. He is an avid outdoorsman and dreamed of hunting once again, teaching his sons what his dad once taught him. The judge was persuaded by Kelly’s arguments her client is an upstanding citizen and agreed to restore his rights.