Search Incident to apprehension - State v. Patton
This is one of the essential in a what will be a extensive line of cases dealing with searching automobiles after somebody has been seized (also recognized as search incident to seizure). It is one of the exceptions to law enforcement needing a warrant for arrest, and recently the United States Supreme Court clarified what a Seattle criminal attorney had identified for a long while - the law enforcement were abusing this directive by searching vehicles incident to the capture of somebody when the arrest created no grounds for the search.
Here is the common illustration: someone is arrested for driving while their license is suspended. The human being is captured and placed into the cop van. After that the police search the automobile, “incident to the seizure.” Problem is, there is no confirmation to find for driving while license revoked. The support is already in the custody of the cops (the driver’s license records).
Facts of State v. Patton - Patton had an unresolved felony warrant. The cops knew where he was at and where waiting for him to come out so they could capture him on the warrant. It was night, and after a bit the cop saw the dome light come on in the car and someone matching the description of Patton out digging around in the auto. The cop pulled up with his lights activated. After telling Patton to stop, Patton pulled his cranium out of the car and ran into the trailer. After backup arrived, they went into the trailer and seized Patton. After seizing him, the cops searched Patton’s vehicle, locating methamphetamine and money. Patton was charged with control of methamphetamine.
At trial, Patton moved to exclude the confirmation for being illegally seized. The trial court granted the motion and the State appealed. At the Court of Appeals, the court sided with the prosecution, who argued that because when Patton was approached he was beside vehicle that it was appropriate to be searched incident to his seizure.
Breakdown - The state constitution provides that warrantless searches are per se unjust. For a warrantless search to be upheld the search must fall into one of more than a few enumerated exceptions. These exceptions are limited to the conditions that brought them into being.
They shouldn’t be used to weaken the need for a warrant. One exception to the warrant condition is the vehicle search incident to capture. That exception holds that the warrantless search of an vehicle is permissible when the officer’s wellbeing is at issue or there is the chance that proof correlated to the misdeed which predicated the detention will be misplaced or ruined.
In this case, Patton’s reason is that the search of Patton’s automobile does not fall into the restricted confines of the exception to the regulation. He also points out that he was not detained in his car, but in his home, that he was never in his vehicle during the argument, and that he was arrested for an outstanding warrant, for which no substantiation of the “crime” would exist in the van.
The Court first looked to decide when it was that Patton was under capture. The court noted that:
an arrest takes place when a duly authorized cop of the law manifests an objective to take a individual into supervision and in fact seizes or detains the person. The existence of seizure depends in each case upon an objective appraisal of all the surrounding circumstances.Here, the officer had captured Patton for all intents and purposes when he pulled up behind him in the driveway with his lights activated and told him he was under capture and not to move. It makes sense for quite a few reasons, one of which is the Court does not want to condone running from cops to change the place of arrest and the activities that are allowed pursuant to that arrest. Because of this, the Court finds that Patton was placed under arrest when he was at his automobile for purposes of the more scrutiny.
The next topic is whether or not the search incident to the arrest Patton was right. original, a search incident to arrest is not legitimate just because the detention happened closely to the vehicle. A more detailed analysis is required. Case law has prescribed:
[a] warrantless search [incident to detention] is permitted only to remove any guns the arrestee might seek to use in order to resist detention or effect an escape and to elude demolition of substantiation by the arrestee of the crime for which he or she is seized…This law has been newly clarified by the Supreme Court in Gant where the court determined that a search incident to apprehension in a truck happens “only when the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of search.”
Study of these details under the regulations establishes that this search was unfair and beyond of the search incident to seizure exception to the warrant requirement. Patton wasn’t in the vehicle when he was detained. There was no relationship between his detention, which was for the warrant for failing to appear in court, and a search of the automobile.
Also, there were no safety concerns for the officers related to anything in the truck - Patton was never in the car, he was seized outside of the van, and when the car was searched Patton was no where near the car (officer security in a way presumes that Patton would be able to take something in the auto and use it to harm the cops).
Conclusion - the Court of Appeals decision is reversed, the trial court’s decision is upheld, the support is suppressed, and the charges against Patton should be dismissed.
DUI attorneys point of view - Clearly I think they got this one correct. The cops inappropriately searched the auto, located some drugs, and then tried to get the support admitted by trying to generate a situation that allowed their illegal search.
As a Seattle DUI attorney these are the types of situations I see all the period that I am happy are now being handled suitably. And, I must also add that I am happy to glimpse that someone has actually acted appropriately when dealing with the cops and did not sanction to a search of his vehicle, which time and period again gets people in trouble.
It was also thrilling to see the Washington Supreme Court in effect negate a lot of case law that had for years been dogging criminal defense lawyers and making it tremendously complicated to get support obtained illegally from being suppressed. With the Supreme Court’s declaration in Gant, the Washington courts had no choice but to negate much of their case law, most likely much to their annoyance. This case, like Gant, is significant for Washington citizens, as it clarifies, for now at least, what cops can and can’t do when seizing you.
Compromise of Misdeanor and Hit & Run Attended - Court of Appeals - State v. Stalker
As background, a compromise of misdemeanor is a statutory method set up by the governing body to allow, in precise circumstances, people that have committed a wrong to take care of the misdemeanor by paying damages to the injured party. If the compensation is paid, and the victim acknowledges in open court that they have received payment and they are okay with the charges being dismissed, that the charges are dismissed with prejudice.
For criminal defense attorneys in Seattle, particularly those that deal with theft, malicious mischief, and hit and runs, this law allows citizens that have made a bad choice to take care of it without having a smudge on their history. In this case, the State challenged whether or not a compromise of misdemeanor could be executed for a hit and run attended (a hit and run case where someone was in the auto when it was hit, as opposed to a parked van).
Facts - Stalker was charged with DUI and hit and run attended. He plead guilty to the drunk driving but moved to have the hit and run attended dismissed pursuant to a compromise of misdemeanor. After providing to the court substantiation that the sufferer was fully rewarded, the court dismissed the allegation pursuant to the compromise of misdemeanor law.
Issue - can hit and run attended be compromised when the court does not have right to order compensation because it is not a direct result of the charge (fleeing the area after an smash has occurred)?
Analysis - Precedent counts for a lot. The legal system is founded on precedent (using earlier decisions of law to have an effect on examination of contemporary legal questions) and precedent is not set aside nonchalantly. In this case, case law has determined that hit and run attended is appropriate for compromise. This conclusion, however, is based less on case law history and more on the language of the compromise of misdemeanor law. The compromise of misdemeanor was established to: “present restitution to crime victims and to get out of prosecution of insignificant offenders.”
Because court decisions handed down interpreting the compromise of misdemeanor statute have determined that hit and run attended is entitled for compromise of misdemeanor, the legislature has had many opportunities to specifically eliminate hit and run attended from eligibility.
While the government has disqualified diverse crimes from eligibility for compromise of misdemeanor, including crimes of domestic violence, they have not chosen to keep out hit and run attended. This shows the court that they do not feel like hit and run attended should be beyond the compromise of misdemeanor law.
Holding - the trial court’s judgment to grant the compromise of misdemeanor for hit and run attended is upheld.
DUI attorney's Analysis - not much for me to say on this one. The decision is pretty obvious. One thing I find attention-grabbing about this, and something I encounter from period to time out there in the world of criminal defense, are prosecutors that are opposed to a compromise of misdemeanor, like they have a say in whether or not one created or one is granted.
These things were created to diminish the work load of prosecutors and give people the opportunity to move past a stupid choice without having to pay for it for a long while. Why can’t prosecutors just go with the flow when an understanding has been reached between defendant and sufferer?
Related Posts:
Seattle Criminal Attorney | Plea Bargaining
Seattle Criminal Attorney | Speeding Ticket to DUI
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