High-Profile Case (MN CRIME)
A case scoring 50 or above on MN CRIME's newsworthiness scale — indicating notable but not necessarily breaking-level charges or circumstances.
MN CRIME designates any case scoring 50 or above on its 0–200 newsworthiness scale as high-profile. These cases have characteristics that suggest they are more significant than a routine filing — serious charges, aggravating circumstances, a public-figure defendant, or a pattern of prior behavior — but they have not reached the threshold (100+) for a "Breaking" designation.
High-profile cases make up a small fraction of total daily filings. On a typical day in Minnesota, hundreds of criminal complaints are filed across the state's 87 counties. Of those, perhaps 10–30% will score in the high-profile range. Breaking cases — the top tier — may number anywhere from zero to a handful depending on the day.
The high-profile designation is designed to help readers, journalists, and researchers prioritize their attention. Not every criminal filing in Minnesota warrants coverage or monitoring. The score helps surface the ones that do. Factors that push a case into high-profile territory include: a charge of Criminal Sexual Conduct 1st or 2nd degree, a homicide or attempted homicide, a financial crime involving a significant dollar amount, a defendant in a position of public trust, or aggravated assault with a weapon.
DocDash subscribers at mncrime.com/dashboard can filter the case feed to show only high-profile and breaking cases, making it possible to review the day's most significant filings in minutes. Scout at mncrime.com/scout lets you set up automatic alerts when a high-profile case matching your criteria is filed. Learn how the score is calculated at mncrime.com/learn/newsworthiness-score.
This explanation describes the general meaning of this MN CRIME data metric as used in Minnesota district court records. For legal advice, consult a licensed Minnesota attorney. Authoritative sources include the Minnesota Statutes and the Minnesota Judicial Branch.
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