State v. Leer, No. 86863-2-I (Dec. 30, 2024):  COA Division-1 Gives us a Binding Opinion on Expired Vials!

WA Crash Prosecutors - COA Div-I agrees with us and follows the reasoning in Keller, the trial court must confine its foundational thresholds to admission to the four-corners of the statute (RCW 46.61.506(3) & WAC 448-14-020(3)). Analysis prior to the lapse of the vial's expiration date is NOT a requirement and subsequent analysis does not per se bar admission of the tox. Further - and this is another important part - the court noted that the state's 702 witness testified that the lapse of the expiration would not adulterate the sample based on the stability studies relied upon by our expert and discussed on the record, no Frye challenge was properly raised nor preserved. This goes a bit further than the holding in Kanta from Div-II and it's published! The panel also added some interesting dicta about the defendant's use of parol evidence, a declaration offered in an unrelated case but filed in this case (if you've ever litigated this issue, you're familiar with this declaration).

Kudos to Mason County DPA Tim Higgs who successfully argued the case!

Reach out to your TSRP for briefing and guidance.

DOWNLOAD OPINION HERE & CITE AWAY

Cheers!

Brad & Michelle

The Winter 2024 TSRP Newsletter is out!

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY HERE

IN THIS EDITION:

• Expired Vials – We have an appellate opinion!

• Look-out for Wenatchee v. Stearns

• Confrontation Clause taken-up by the Supreme Court

• Target Zero emphasis patrol success

• Introducing our new TSRP

• Announcing Spring 2025 TSRP Bootcamp

• Save the dates for up-coming Prosecutor and LEO training

*YOUR FALL-2024 TSRP UPDATE IS HERE!!

We have a jam-packed Newsletter this Fall plus an exclusive members-only download for your new 2024 TSRP DUI Benchbook!!

IN THIS EDITION:

• DRE school grads,-
• Toxicology Lab Updates
• Legislative / Case Law Hot Topics
•  Expired Vials & Confrontation Clause
• Introducing our new DRE Coordinator
• Save the dates for up-coming Prosecutor and LEO training
• Bootcamp recap + TSRP’s out-and-about
• 2024 DUI Benchbook is out!

Check Out the Newsletter Here!

We hope you enjoy it! Cheers!!!

Prosecutors prosecuting the cannabis impaired driver, this is a MUST read.  NTLC's "Behind the Lines" article on how to educate your jury with your DRE or officer, trained to detect impairment caused by cannabis, is a MUST read.  You can find the article here.  If you are not yet a NDAA member, I highly encourage you to join and take full advantage of their expertise on traffic safety and impaired driving prosecution.

To find the most recent TSRP newsletter with highlights from Keller and Smith v. Az, please look under the impaired driving resources tab.  Thank you!

The Supreme Court on 6.21.24, upheld a federal law that bars anyone subject to a domestic-violence restraining order from possessing a gun. By a vote of 8-1, the court ruled that the law does not violate the Constitution’s Second Amendment, which protects the right of the people to keep and bear Arms.

In 2020, a court in Texas entered a civil protective order against him after he dragged his then-girlfriend back to his car when she tried to leave after an argument. He pushed her into the car, causing her to hit her head on the dashboard. He also fired a gun at a bystander who witnessed the incident. The protective order specifically barred Rahimi from having a gun.

Justice Roberts opined that when looking at English and American gun laws, the US firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms. In particular, he pointed to two different kinds of laws in early history – laws that gave courts the power to require individuals who were believed to be a threat to post a bond, and laws that provided for the punishment of individuals who had threatened others with guns.

When those laws are viewed together, Roberts wrote, they “confirm what common sense suggests: When an individual poses a clear threat of violence to another, the threatening individual may be disarmed.”

The ruling in United States v. Rahimi was the court’s first Second Amendment case since it threw out New York’s handgun-licensing law nearly two years ago. In that case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the majority emphasized that courts should uphold gun restrictions only when there is a tradition of such regulation in U.S. history.  Here the court found a relationship to such tradition which supports the disarming of persons who poses a clear threat of violence to another.

• In Smith v. Arizona, the court rules that when an expert conveys an absent lab analyst’s statements in support of the expert’s opinion, and the statements provide that support only if true, then the statements come into evidence for their truth, and thus implicate the Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause.
• The court declined to opine on whether the out-of-court statements that the expert conveyed in this case were in fact testimonial because the state court did not decide that question. The court found the questioned to be assumed true in the lower court.  

Prosecutor DUI Bootcamp:

September 16-18, 2024 in Yakima, WA. Registration is open for members on our website.  If you are not yet a member, please sign up and register for this exceptional training.

DRE pre-school for Prosecutors.  This will will be a full 3 day course. More details to come but a prerequisite to attend is to attend the prosecutor bootcamp and/or an Aride class prior to the DRE preschool. Dates to be determined.  

Stay tuned for more updates on trainings.    

Driver charged with killing WSP Trooper Gadd admitted to drinking and smoking marijuana before the I-5 crash.  

The suspect accused of crashing into and killing Washington State Trooper Christopher Gadd on I-5 near Marysville March 2, 2024, has been charged in connection with the incident.

Raul Benitez Santana, 32, is currently behind bars in Snohomish County on $1 million bail. Prosecutors announced that he was charged with two counts of vehicular assault (reckless manner or while under the influence) in connection to Gadd's death.

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) said Gadd, 27, started with the WSP on Sept. 16, 2021. He became the 33rd WSP member to die in the line of duty in the agency's 103 years of service, according to the WSP. Gadd was on patrol Saturday, parked in the grass on the right-side shoulder of the freeway when the crash happened, according to probable cause documents. A witness driving a semi-truck said Gadd's vehicle was "fully marked" with the lights off, the document said, when a speeding black SUV "swerved and struck the rear end" of the patrol vehicle. 

A Drug Recognition Expert who spoke with the suspect at the hospital said he saw "multiple physiological signs consistent with recent Marijuana usage." The suspect's blood was drawn at the hospital, and a voluntary Preliminary Breath Test taken about 3.5 hours after the collision came back with a .047 reading. The suspect also admitted to deputies that he had consumed 2 beers after initially saying he had only one.

For those looking to donate to Gadd's family, the WSP Memorial Foundation provided the following instructions:

• Using Venmo, donations can be sent to @WSP-MemorialFoundation. Please note “Trooper Gadd” in the note section. (If last 4 is requested, use 4411)
• Go into any Chase Bank Branch and make a check deposit into the “Washington State Patrol Memorial Foundation” account. “Trooper Gadd” should be noted on the check note line.
• Using your own bank, you can log in online or through your mobile app and make a donation using Zelle. Donations can be sent to our WSPMF number, 360-597-4411, or email, wspmemorialfoundation@gmail.com. Please note “Trooper Gadd”. All donations received will be held for the family. There are no fees with using Zelle.

• You can mail a check made out to WSPMF with “Trooper Gadd” on the note line to:
• WSP Memorial Foundation
• PO Box 901
• Prosser, WA 99350

Anyone wishing to send cards to the family are asked to address them to the WSP Marysville Office: 2700 116th St. NE, Marysville, WA 98271.

Save the Dates:

ARIDE-presented by the Impaired Driving Section and an excellent way for prosecutors to learn the skills required for impaired driving.  You must contact Rebecca Cortez to attend.  Contact information  and dates. 

DRE Preschool:  June 17-19, Yakima WA. Prosecutors must get permission to attend from Rebecca Cortez.   Contact information  and dates. 

TSRP Prosecutors Basics Bootcamp, September 16-18, 2024:  TSRP Basics Bootcamp for Prosecutors, with courses on DRE protocol, IID laws, how to use the Draeger instrument, a wetlab, SFST training, evolution of DUI laws, ethics, etc. 

WSAMA training which includes a criminal track: For more information click Here  

• April 24-26, 2024 Vancouver Hilton - Vancouver, Washington
• September 25-27, 2024 Hotel Murano - Tacoma, Washington
• April 23-25, 2025 Suncadia Resort - Cle Elum, Washington

October 21-23, DRE school for Prosecutors!  Learn what your experts know.  More information to come.