Guilty plea reversed for White Bear Lake nuisance neighbor

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has reversed the guilty plea of a nuisance neighbor from White Bear Lake, ruling that the District Court erred in refusing to let Lori Christensen withdraw her plea before sentencing last year.

The decision, issued Monday, sends the case back to Ramsey County District Court.

Christensen, 51, pleaded guilty in a plea bargain in July 2013 to violating a harassment restraining order that neighbors in her cul-de-sac had filed against her. The Ramsey County attorney's office alleged that Christensen violated the order by videotaping her neighbors' yard.

But the appellate court disagreed, saying that there was no factual basis for Christensen's plea because she didn't actually videotape her neighbors. "At the plea hearing, Christensen admitted only that she video-recorded the neighboring family's house, yard, and vehicle from her own front yard," wrote Judge Matthew Johnson in the opinion.

"The record of the plea hearing does not indicate that, in doing so, Christensen video-recorded any member of the family."

Christensen had tried to withdraw her plea, but the court denied her motion. She then appealed.

Christensen and her neighbors, Greg and Kim Hoffman, were embroiled in a feud for years. The Hoffmans alleged that Christensen taunted them, flashed them and made obscene gestures at them.

"It's kind of like, you know, 'Here we go again,' " he said. "Is it exhausting? Absolutely. The flip side of it is, do you just throw in the towel and say, 'We're tired of dealing with this?' We're not throwing in the towel."

The Hoffmans first obtained a restraining order against Christensen in 2010, and she pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor violations and one felony violation of that order. The Hoffmans obtained the second harassment restraining order in 2012.

Their accusations drew national attention. The neighbors said she posted a sign in her yard stating, "Fat people disgust me" and another that read, "I saw mommy kissing a breathalyzer."

At Christensen's plea hearing, her attorney, Gary Wolf, told Ramsey County District Judge Judith Tilsen that the case caught the attention of Dr. Phil, the ABC-TV program "20/20" and Australian media. "This is crazy," Wolf said at the time.

Dennis Gerhardstein, a spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney's office, said that officials were "now considering all options as we pursue our next steps in this case."

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib