State v. Crawley
Annotate this CaseA jury found Defendant guilty of falsely reporting an act of police misconduct under Minn. Stat. 609.505, subd. 2 (the statute) based on the fact that Defendant informed a police officer that another officer forged her signature, knowing that the information conveyed was false. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the statute was unconstitutional because it criminalizes false speech critical of the police but not false speech that favors the police. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the court of appeals erred in finding the statute unconstitutional because it criminalizes only defamatory speech not protected by the First Amendment and because it was within two of the exceptions to the constitutional prohibition against content discrimination in an unprotected category of speech; but (2) because Defendant's conviction under the statute preceded the Court's narrow construction of the statute, due process considerations entitled her to a new trial. Remanded.
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