The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 16, 2009

Defendant skips out on trial

Jury convicts him in DWI case

By Dan Nienaber

MANKATO — A nationwide warrant was issued for the arrest of a 39-year-old Mankato man last week after he decided to take a long lunch during his trial for felony drunken-driving charges.

The trial went on without Matt Dixon Jr. on Friday and he was found guilty in absentia of driving while intoxicated.

All of the jurors had been picked, opening arguments were made and the prosecution, represented by Assistant Blue Earth County Attorney Chris Rovney, had rested its case before District Court Judge Norbert Smith decided to break for lunch Friday.

When everyone else returned at 1 p.m. to move on to witnesses called by defense attorney Tom Hagen, Dixon did not.

Smith said he would give Dixon until 1:30 p.m. to show up before a warrant was issued, court records said. At that time Smith pointed out he already had warned Dixon when he showed up 20 minutes late for the start of the trial and five minutes late after a morning break.

While the judge and attorneys waited for Dixon, they discussed a potential problem that had come up with the jury. One of the jurors reported she had received a call during the lunch break from Meghan Haus, the owner of the car Dixon had been driving when he was arrested. The juror said Haus attempted to discuss the case with her and find out which way the jury was leaning, court records said.

Hagen made a motion for a mistrial. Smith denied the motion. It was obvious, Smith said, the only way Haus would have known the woman she called was on the jury was if Dixon, or one of his friends attending the trial, would have told her.

The friends who had been watching the trial had not returned after lunch either, Smith added.

He allowed the woman to remain on the jury, which was simply told the trial would be moving forward without Dixon. Hagen spent less than a half hour presenting his case, and the jury deliberated for about 40 minutes before finding Dixon guilty.

After being stopped for speeding in October 2008, Dixon was arrested when a preliminary breath test showed his blood-alcohol level was over the legal limit for driving. A urine test later showed he had a blood-alcohol concentration of .17, more than twice the legal limit of .08 for driving.

The arresting officers also learned he had prior drunken-driving convictions and a warrant for his arrest in St. Cloud, where he had lived prior to moving to Mankato.

A $10,000 bond Dixon posted for his release from jail about a week after his arrest also was revoked Friday.

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