State v. Loge

Steven Loge (defendant) was driving his father's pickup truck when police stopped him for speeding; while one officer spoke with Loge outside the vehicle, the other spotted what looked like a beer bottle in a paper bag under the passenger seat, which turned out to be an open, foaming beer bottle, along with one empty can and one unopened can. Loge said he didn't know the open bottle was in the truck. He was cited under Minnesota Statutes section 169.122(3) for the misdemeanor of keeping or allowing an open alcohol container in a vehicle on a public highway; the trial court held the statute was strict liability regardless of the driver's knowledge, and the court of appeals agreed. Loge appealed, arguing the statute implicitly requires knowledge of the open container's presence.