Supreme Court reprimands Dakota County Attorney
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The Minnesota Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded and fined Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom.
The state Supreme Court agreed with a lawyer's responsibility board that Backstrom violated ethics rules when he threatened to withdraw support for Dakota County's coroner, Dr. Lindsey Thomas, unless Thomas barred assistant coroners from testifying as criminal defense experts.
In addition to the public reprimand, the state Supreme Court fined Backstrom $900.
Last month, Backstrom agreed to both sanctions in what he called a "lack of judgment" in connection with a murder trial in another county.
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