Monthly Archives: March 2016

Protected by the First Amendment

Our First Amendment can trump perceived criminal conduct, at least that is what one Washington State appeals court has recently ruled. The sordid facts of the case are as follows: A Bellingham High School student took to Twitter to express her anger toward a classmate. Referring to an incident that occurred between the two in… Continue Reading »

Busted For Drugs? Here’s What You Need To Know

One of the most common offenses found in Courts across the United States, are drug offenses. Both the Federal and State drug possession laws make it a crime to willfully possess illegal controlled substances such as marijuana (with exception to certain states), methamphetamine, cocaine, LSD, heroin and other controlled substances. These laws also criminalize the… Continue Reading »

Transparency is Bliss

On March 8, 2016, the Washington Legislature passed a bill to keep police body-camera video footage available to the public, which is a good thing considering the current public outcry for law enforcement ‘transparency’. House Bill 2362: (1) sets rules on what type of body-camera video footage is presumed ‘private’; (2) sets up a task force to… Continue Reading »

Creating A Defense Strategy

Soon after a defendant explains his or her story to a criminal lawyer, they will probably collaborate with each other to come up with a strategy that will work best in court. Generally speaking, this strategy will be based upon the story that the defendant tells his or her attorney, but in most cases will… Continue Reading »

Fifth DUI w/in 10 soon to be a Class B Felony

And the saga still continues … the government keeps ratcheting down on DUI’s in Washington State. In step with this continuing policy our state Legislature recently passed a bill that would raise penalties for felony-level driving under the influence convictions in Washington State. After clearing the House in February House Bill 2280 passed the Senate… Continue Reading »

How Is A Jury Selected?

When facing a criminal charge, one of the most important constitutional rights a defendant has is a trial by a jury of our peers. The jury is tasked with finding the facts of a case after carefully reviewing the evidence and carefully deliberating. The question that often arises is how a jury is actually selected?… Continue Reading »

Court Finds Lawful Exception

As many Seattle domestic violence lawyers know, the general rule is that warrantless searches and seizures are considered, per se, unreasonable. In line with this policy, a Washington State law enforcement officer conducting a traffic stop may not request identification from a passenger for investigatory purposes without an independent reason to justify the request. Such… Continue Reading »