Albert Lea restaurant owner found guilty of violating state COVID mandate

ALBERT LEA, Minn. — The owner of a wine and beer bar who openly flouted Gov. Tim Walz's executive orders to shut down last winter during the COVID-19 pandemic was found guilty of six criminal misdemeanor counts Thursday by a Freeborn County jury.

A jury of three women and three men took only an hour of deliberation to convict Lisa Hanson, the 57-year-old bar owner, after a three-day trial punctuated by Hanson's repeated attempts to argue that Walz's orders were unconstitutional.

Judge Joseph Bueltel followed the reading of the verdict with a scathing denunciation of Hanson's behavior, explaining why the governor's orders were legal. "You wanted to make money over the interest of public safety," he said. "You don't recognize the law. You don't think you're subject to the law."

https://www.startribune.com/albert-lea-restaurant-owner-found-guilty-of-violating-state-covid-mandate/600125580/