Draft:Ryan Garry (attorney)

Ryan Garry (born 1977) is a criminal defense attorney best known for representing individuals, celebrities, and businesses dealing with accusations and criminal charges brought by the state and federal government.

History
Garry attended William Mitchell College of Law from 2001-2004 and was admitted to practice with a focus on criminal defense, including entertainment law. He worked full-time for the Ramsey, Minnesota public defender’s office and several private law firms, including Briggs and Morgan, Caplan and Tamburino in Minneapolis. In 2009, Garry founded The Law Offices of Ryan Garry in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Career
Following a three-week jury trial in a Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder case in 2008, Garry secured a mistrial for his client after the jury deliberated for three days. The defendant was a Coon Rapids man accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife at her home.

In 2009, Garry convinced a prosecutor to dismiss First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct charges after he discovered six witnesses willing to testify against the alleged victim. Garry told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges against his client were second only to murder in their seriousness.

Garry won an acquittal for Sidney Allen Elyea in 2010 for posting drawings and cartoons that were considered anti-Islamic.

In 2011, Garry represented criminal defense attorney Sam McCloud in a federal tax evasion case, writing a “flowery (and flattering) 61-page memorandum that details McCloud’s life history and includes numerous words of support from fellow attorneys.” Ryan convinced the federal judge to give McCloud a much shorter sentence than what the federal sentencing guidelines called for.

In 2011, Garry defended Diane Bakdash, a nurse practitioner whose son Timothy allegedly struck several pedestrians with his car in Dinkytown, killing one. According to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, it was Bakdash’s loyalty to her son that led her to assist him in disposing of the car involved in the incident. She was cleared of all charges.

Garry helped Chulalak Ratsbouth to be acquitted of prostitution charges in 2011 after the investigating officers obtained one-hour massages before arresting her for the crime in which they had just participated.

In 2013, Garry successfully obtained not guilty verdicts for John Edgar Bayiha who was charged with strangling his wife. Bayiha faced a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine, plus an additional misdemeanor domestic assault charge, which has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

In 2015, Garry defended Chad Jeffrey Akerson, 35, of Willmar, Minnesota, who was sentenced to three years in prison for third-degree criminal sexual conduct. Garry successfully won a lowered sentence than what the state sentencing guidelines recommended. Akerson apologized to the victim and her family in his statement.

In 2016, Garry defended Meron Bekure, a close associate and assistant of music artist Prince after his death the same year. Bekure was investigated by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies for criminal offenses related to Prince’s death but was never charged.

In 2019, Garry successfully defended Don Boeder, the mayor of Gaylord, Minnesota, against claims that he financially abused a vulnerable adult. According to the allegations filed in Sibley County District Court, Boeder had power of attorney for the victim, who had been wheelchair-bound and had suffered two strokes.

At a two-week jury trial in 2020, Garry defended a decorated State Trooper accused of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree and gained a not guilty verdict, saving him a prison term of at least 12 years.

In 2020, Garry defended Minnesota demonstrators protesting George Floyd's death against unlawful prosecution. Former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick retained Garry to represent the demonstrators charged with crimes. Garry argued that the protestors were expressing their constitutional right to free expression as guaranteed by the first amendment to the United States and Minnesota constitutions. All charges against the clients were dismissed.

In 2022, Garry defended a college student charged with Criminal Sexual Conduct in the First Degree, the most serious criminal sexual conduct charge possible The jury acquitted the defendant with not guilty verdicts in less than an hour after a trial that lasted over a week. In a similar case in 2022, Garry's firm defended a board certified doctor charged with seven counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct alleged by 4 prior patients. All charges were dismissed.

In 2023, Ryan represented music artist Desiigner in federal court. Desiigner, born Sidney Royel Selby III, was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, work 120 hours of community service, and remain on probation for two years after exposing himself on a Delta Air Lines flight in 2003. A flight attendant spotted the rapper exposing himself in the first class section of the plane. The criminal complaint claimed he quickly covered himself only to be caught masturbating five minutes later by other members of the flight crew. At the time, authorities said that he continued to do so after being asked multiple times to stop.

News outlets such as TMZ had reported that Selby was required to register as a sex offender as part of his sentence, although Garry gave a statement to People magazine stating that this wasn’t true.

In 2024, Garry defended a man charged with possessing a firearm illegally. Despite the man’s DNA being present across the firearm, Garry convinced a jury to find him not-guilty of all charges in less than an hour.

Garry is recognized by the Minnesota State Bar Association as a Criminal Law Specialist, a certification held by less than 3% of criminal defense attorneys in Minnesota, and is a board member of the Minnesota State Bar Association committee responsible for oversight of the certification.

Garry served as President of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2021 (MACDL). As of 2024, he serves on the MSBA Board for the Criminal Law Specialist committee. Garry has been a SuperLawyer since 2009, a national designation by SuperLawyers reserved for the top 5% of attorneys, and has been named a Top 100 lawyer by SuperLawyers in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 in recognition of the top 100 lawyers in the State of Minnesota.

Garry was awarded the Special Achievement Award by the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2020 for representing an attorney whose law offices were raided by state and federal law enforcement officers.