The label applied to the three levels of police encounters with individuals will determine the constitutional rights of the persons being stopped or detained. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches of their persons, houses, papers, and belongings by the government. A search warrant must be supported by sworn allegations of probable cause and […]

DNA testing is a double-edged sword. Law enforcement has solved countless cold cases as well as current cases based on DNA evidence. The problem arises from the fact that, like almost everything, DNA testing is not 100% reliable. A miscarriage of justice can result when someone gets wrongfully convicted based on incorrect DNA results or […]

You might have thought that you were merely expressing yourself and your opinions online, and then someone accused you of harassment and took you to court, seeking an anti-harassment order. What happened to the 1st Amendment freedom of speech? The 1st Amendment does protect a lot of speech. One’s speech has to cross the line […]

The Governor of Washington State has the power, under our state constitution and some state statutes, to change the fate of people sentenced to death. One of the options the Governor has is to commute, which means to lessen a death sentence. If you are following the case of someone with a death sentence, you […]

Washington State’s privacy laws generally require the consent of both parties to record a conversation, but there are exceptions to this rule. If an alleged victim records a crime in progress or if the alleged perpetrator accidentally records the event, the audio recording could get used in court. Also, there are additional exceptions for the […]

In an evidentiary hearing, the judge will hear the evidence the prosecution has against the defendant and decide which evidence the jury will get to hear at trial. Of course, the jury is not present for this evidentiary hearing. You will definitely want to have an attorney attend and participate on your behalf in the […]

If you or a loved one has recently been arrested, you may be overwhelmed by the magnitude of everything that you are facing. As a Washington defense attorney, I want to help you understand the process so that you don’t have to worry about unnecessary issues. Once you have been arrested, you will be scheduled […]

There are two primary types of evidence tampering – tampering with physical evidence and with witnesses. Witnesses can provide testimonial evidence to the court. When a person gets accused of a crime, allegations of evidence tampering can mean additional criminal charges and penalties.  Some people engage in evidence tampering without realizing the legal implications of […]