Special emphasis patrols over the 2011-12 holiday season resulted in over
414 impaired driving arrests by the Washington State Patrol alone. Emphasis
patrols often carry the spectre of "pretext" -- a legal doctrine
which holds that law enforcement officers may not conduct a traffic stop
for one thing (e.g., a minor traffic infraction) when they are actually
interested in investigating another thing (e.g., impaired driving).
Washington is among a minority of states that uphold this special protection
from governmental intrusion. The seminal Washington case -- State v. Ladson,
138 Wn.2d 353, 979 P.2d 833 (1999) --- has been subject to much jurisprudential
push and pull over the years, but the principle still stands in Washington.
Most recently, Division III of the Washington Court of Appeals upheld
this doctrine in State v. Chacon, 163 Wn. App. 787, 260 P.3d 985 (2011).
In that case, a police officer followed the defendant's vehicle for
over a half mile because it fit the description of a car reportedly driven
by a suspected drunk driver. The officer noticed that the vehicle was
equipped with an illegal muffler while watching for signs of impaired
driving and he eventually stopped the vehicle for the muffler violation
without observing any evidence of impaired driving. Even though the muffler
violation would normally be a sufficient justification to stop a vehicle,
the officer in this case stopped the vehicle with the primary motivation
of investigating DUI
. The officer testified that he would have stopped the defendant for the
muffler violation even if he had not suspected DUI. Nonetheless, the Court
of Appeals overturned the defendant's conviction and directed the
trial court to dismiss the case because, by conducting a pretextual traffic
stop (i.e., a stop to investigate DUI justified only by a minor traffic
infraction), the officer violated Article 1 Section 7 of the Washington
State Constitution and State v. Ladson.
Arrests during emphasis patrols should always be carefully scrutinized
for the type of pretextual motivation evidenced in State v. Ladson , State
v. Chacon and their progeny.
If you have been arrested for DUI in Whitman County, call Baumgarten Law
Office at (509) 593-4370 for a free consultation.
