Our story: in July 2022, my 79 year old, elderly and ill father was driving from Faribault to Dundas for dialysis. Along the way he crossed paths with Leslie Sanders, who attempted to pass him on a two lane highway.  As he was attempting to come back into the lane, he struck my dad’s vehicle. Several miles later, we presume my dad pulled over in a safe location to exchange insurance information. Instead of receiving insurance information, Leslie punched my dad repeatedly in the face, while he sat helpless and restrained by his seatbelt. He had no opportunity to defend himself.  Dad was transported to Northfield Hospital where the initial examination noted a broken jaw, broken nose, eye socket and multiple other fractures and cuts. Shortly after arrival, dad slipped into a coma with a brain bleed and was transported to HCMC for the type of care he needed. Dad’s injuries were so severe from the beating that his care team indicated he would never live independently again, IF he survived the necessary surgeries to repair the substantial damage.  10 days later my family and I made the agonizing decision to remove dad from life support, per his wishes, and let he and God decide what his body could endure. He passed away 8 hours later. His last words were “Jennifer stop pain.”

Leslie was charged with second degree murder, and after a year of hearings, a plea agreement was reached. He would plead guilty to second degree murder and receive a sentence of 140 months in prison. Under MN law, that is automatically reduced by 1/3. Then you reduce it further by the year of time served, and he was now looking at 8 years in prison. Under the new law I outline below, if Leslie is accepted into, and completes the program, he could be out walking the streets of our community in 3 years. 3 years for beating a defenseless elderly man to death with his bare hands.

I hope you can read my story and understand the need to make changes to our criminal justice system. Thank you for taking the time to read.

In 2023, HF1319, more commonly known as MRRA (Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act) was signed into law. This bill will allow the worst offenders in the state of Minnesota the opportunity to be eligible for participation in the program which will reduce their prison sentences by 50%. The only true exclusion at this time are those serving “life” sentences. 

In 2024, Senator John Jasinski authored SF3657, which would add 2nd degree murder as an exclusion as well. 
The chairman of the Judiciary and Public Safety committee did not feel this amendment had enough support to hold it over for a discussion. 
This is where you come in: we plan to reintroduce the amendment in the 2025 session, but this time with the power of the people behind it. 
Please join me in using our collective voice to ensure those elected to represent us truly HEAR and LISTEN to us. Please help me make a change that could greatly impact public safety.