Category Archives: Bellingham Defense Attorney

Winter DUI Emphasis Patrols to Begin Again

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Department of Licensing, DUI, Ignition Interlock Device, Washington State Patrol, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , ,

Be aware, all . . .

All along the I-5 corridor from Canada to Mexico, law enforcement agencies begin emphasis enforcement beginning on Wednesday November 27, 2013.

The goal is to prevent even a single death on I-5 during the Thanksgiving weekend.   To that end, Washington, Oregon, and California law enforcement are combining forces this week to keep the road safe from impaired drivers.  Spread the word!

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with DUI or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Latest DUI Emphasis Patrol Nets 151 Whatcom County Drivers

Bellingham, Bellingham Defense Attorney, Blood Test, Department of Licensing, Drug Offenses, DUI, Ignition Interlock Device, law enforcement, marijuana, misdemeanor, police, Terry Stop, Washington State Patrol, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , ,

The latest “Drive Hammered, Get Nailed” campaign put more officers on patrol during the holiday season and resulted in 151 Whatcom County drivers being arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

The campaign began Nov. 25 and ended Jan. 2. The Washington State Patrol, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and the Bellingham, Ferndale and Western Washington University police departments participated.

Statewide, more than 3,500 people were arrested for DUI during the campaign.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Red Light Cameras Arrive in Spring 2011

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Here they come.

Beginning April 1, motorists in Bellingham can expect to see traffic cameras at six locations that have been pinpointed as areas with high instances of speeding in school zones or vehicles running red lights. The first 30 days is an amnesty period where violators will receive warning tickets.

When the City Council voted on the camera ordinance on Nov. 23, Councilman Seth Fleetwood was the lone opposer saying it was a “tough decision.” Ultimately, Fleetwood voted against it saying, “Do we want to live in a place with cameras?”  Fleetwood also disagreed with the City Council’s decision to cancel a public hearing on the subject.  The City Council never rescheduled the meeting.  He called the cancellation “A bad move.”

Based on traffic studies in conjunction with the Bellingham Public Works Department, the Police Department came up with four locations for traffic cameras to detect red-light running: westbound on Holly Street at N. Forest Street; northbound on Ellis Street at Lakeway Drive; northbound on Meridian Street and Telegraph Road; and southbound on Samish Way at 36th Street, near Sehome Village.

Here’s how they work: when a vehicle runs a red light or is detected speeding at one of the intersections, the video equipment is triggered capturing about 12 seconds of footage including the vehicle’s license plate. State law stipulates that the camera may take pictures only from the rear of the vehicle and never the faces of the driver or passengers. Electronic images may not be used for any other purpose and must not be retained longer than necessary to enforce the violation.

The cameras are always in operation but capturing footage only when they are triggered by a vehicle in violation.  Images and video are reviewed by ATS and then a Bellingham Police officer trained on the equipment affirms each violation. If you receive a notice, you can make the payment to ATS or appeal. If you were not the driver of the vehicle, you can contest it in writing.

A ticket generated by the traffic cameras is processed as a “civil infraction” similar to a parking ticket. This is different from a notice of infraction, which occurs when a police officer pulls over a driver accused of running a red light or speeding in a school zone. The notice of infraction is reported to the driver’s auto insurance; the civil infraction is not.

Studies conducted by ATS and other private companies show that camera installation creates safer streets. However, independent studies and those done by news organizations have shown an increase in accidents at intersections where cameras have been installed.

Meantime, at least seven states have banned red-light cameras, including Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, West Virginia and Wisconsin, according to Anne Teigen, a transportation specialist at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

My opinion?  Bad idea.  I’ll tell you a secret: yellow lights are timed MUCH shorter at intersections with traffic cameras.  Quite literally, you must be already driving through the intersection when the light turns yellow.  Otherwise, you’ll be caught, pictured, and ticketed.  These traffic lights are not proven to decrease bad driving behavior.  They are, however, proven to increase revenue for municipalities.  THAT’S what this is about.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Representing Veterans

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Constitutional Rights, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , ,

Good news.  The Louisiana Public Defender Board, in collaboration with the Louisiana Department of veterans Affairs, has developed a guide for public defense attorneys who represent veterans.

The guide provides information on substance abuse services, PTSD treatment, VA recovery services in mental health, transitional work experience (TWE) and Supported Employment (SE) and Depression Treatment.

My opinion? The guide is a great tool that could fairly easily be replicated in every state in the country.  Although it’s written for public defenders, the guide also helps private defense attorneys identify the resources available to assist their veteran clients.

I’m honored to represent veterans against criminal charges.  In my experience, their crimes can be traced back to an underlying PTSD issue from serving in the war.  They deserve the highest level of legal representation, and should be treated with dignity from the judges and prosecutors.  Our veterans fought for our country.

Attorneys representing veterans MUST KNOW their veteran clients may lose pension benefits if they plead to any convictions garnering 60 or more days of incarceration.  For more information, please click “Section A: General Information on Payment of Benefits After Incarceration after clicking the link below:

http://www.index.va.gov/search/va/va_search.jsp?SQ=&TT=1&QT=incarceration

To the veterans, I salute you. 🙂

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Bellingham’s New Noise Ordinance: A Step In the Right Direction

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On December 6, at 7:00 p.m., Bellingham City Council members will vote on the creation of entertainment districts designed to simultaneously protect musicians/venues from noise complaints and downtown residents from excessive noise.

Under the ordinance, the council would officially create entertainment districts downtown and in Fairhaven.  It also would make a basic declaration recognizing that music venues “add to the vibrancy and economic vitality” of the city.  Then it directs police, in considering noise complaints, to assess the issue using various criteria like (1) time of day the complaint occurs; (2) duration and volume of sound; (3) the nature of the sound; and (4) the character of the business or industry from where the sound originates.

Members of the Bellingham Downtown Alliance for Music and Nightlife said the law contains some “very promising elements” and that it was exciting the council would be making an official declaration about the importance of music and nightlife to the city.  The group also wants the city to require landlords to disclose to potential tenants in the entertainment districts that they’d be living in an area with higher volumes of noise at later hours.

My opinion?  I live downtown.  There are three  noisy nightclubs/bars in my neighborhood.  They attract a noisy crowd, especially on the weekends.  However, I moved into this area knowing the noise existed.  Indeed, I welcomed it (if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em; if you can’t take the heat then get out of the kitchen, yadda yadda . . .).

The police and the City have cowed to the complaints of local citizens and businesses who can’t handle urban noise.  Indeed, mere months ago, Plan B Lounge closed down due to the excessive complaints of one neighbor (1!) who lived above the lounge and stated he couldn’t sleep because of the noise.  The City found in his favor and determined that Plan B must install soundproofing, and/or decrease the music.  The owners chose to leave.  Another local business bit the dust.  What a loss!  Throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I’m in favor of the ordinance.  Police must now apply specific criteria in determining whether the noise ordinance is violated.  They can no longer make arbitrary and capricious decisions (it’s more difficult, anyway).  Good.  Let’s make standards and apply them fairly.  Otherwise, musicians and venues will continue face Disorderly Conduct charges for merely expressing themselves.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

It’s a Bad Time For Job Seekers With Criminal Records

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The L.A. Times reported on the employment challenges faced by people coming out of prison. “As difficult as the recession has been on people, it’s twice as difficult for people with a felony to make it in this economy.”

The information is sobering.  As prisons are forced to reduce their inmate populations because of overcrowding and budget shortages, some economists fear that could lead many of them back to a life of crime.  Also, experts say two trends have dimmed employment prospects even more.

One is a severe contraction in industries such as manufacturing and construction that have traditionally been more open to hiring people with checkered pasts. The other is a rise in the number of former inmates looking for work, as state prisons and county jails try to reduce their inmate populations to save money.

My opinion?  Clients hire me for many reasons: to defend their rights, fight unwarranted criminal charges, and/or reach resolutions which dismiss/reduce criminal charges, and save their career from present or future calamities caused by the criminal charges levelled against them.  Criminal history, and especially FELONY history, is extremely harmful to my clients’ present and future job prospects.

Keep this in mind when seeking private counsel.  Do you trust them to humanize you?  Will they save your job/career?  Discuss the different strategies your potential attorney will implement in working your case.  In today’s tough job market, your livelihood depends on it.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Bellingham Council Decides To Adopt Cameras Without a Public Hearing

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City Council members have decided they want to install red-light and speed-zone cameras, and they won’t hold a public hearing before voting on them. The decision reverses the council’s 6-0 vote on Sept. 27 to hold a hearing on the topic.

The council decided there was no point in going through the “charade” of a public hearing if it was set on approving it anyway, he said. The council’s No. 1 goal is public safety, and members have already heard from the police department, which wants the cameras.

A crash recently killed a little girl near a school, and the city has had other crashes in school zones, Knutson said. Red-light running has long been a problem here, he said.

“We have not heard a lot about this issue from our citizens,” he said. “We’ve been getting bombarded by Tim Eyman and his crew.”

Political personality Tim Eyman is an anti-tax activist who also fights agsint red-light cameras.  He blasted the city’s decision to skip a public hearing.

“That is so sleazy,” Eyman said. “And they wonder why people distrust government. My gosh. They wonder why our initiatives are so popular.  This is just socialistic. This is authoritarian, dictator-type of decision making that doesn’t even give the imaginary illusions of public input,” Eyman said. “You’ve got to admire the audacity of it, it’s just ‘Who cares what the citizens think?'”

My opinion?  I actually agree with Eyman.  True, there is no “on-point” legal precedent stating a public hearing is legally required for decisions like this.  However, when a city council has made up its mind, it will usually hold a hearing to at least give the impression it’s being open-minded.

There are deeper reasons for the lack of public hearing.  First, the recent death of the young girl who was struck by a car near Bellingham High School probably prompted a greater public outcry FOR traffic cameras than AGAINST cameras.  Second, the City sees these cameras generating revenue for City coffers.

Being a staunch supporter of due process, I nevertheless believe the City Council should have adopted a hearing on the subject.  Trust me, Government fails when it skips steps and avoids processes.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

 

Local Roundabouts Show No Spike in Crashes/Injuries, BUT . . .

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Drug Offenses, DUI, law enforcement, misdemeanor, police, Probable Cause, Search and Seizure, Terry Stop, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , ,
Early data from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) shows there hasn’t been a spike in crashes since the new roundabouts in Whatcom County were constructed.  Of the accidents that have occurred, none have resulted in injuries, unlike many of the crashes before when traffic signals controlled some of the intersections.

My opinion?  Yes, the data appears good.  However, I’m concerned that police use roundabouts to conduct unlawful/pretextual pullovers for DUI.  “Pretext” is the arrest of a person for a minor crime (as a traffic violation) for the real purpose of getting an opportunity to investigate (as through a search) the person’s possible involvement in a more serious crime for which there are no lawful grounds to make an arrest.  Pretextual stops are unlawful.

Navigating a roundabout is confusing for inexperienced drivers.  The four most common mistakes people make are (1) not yielding to traffic already in the roundabout, (2) not using their blinkers, (3) changing lanes in the roundabout, which is not allowed; and (4) treating the yield signs entering roundabouts as stop signs.

Any one of these common mistakes can cause a police officer to initiate an unlawful pretextual pullover.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

Red Light Cameras: The Saga Continues

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A new study shows “license plate sprays” are ineffective.

Some “masking” products let us apply a cover or spray to license plates to neutralize the devices.  The spray or cover supposedly reflects the camera’s flash and overexposes the photo, rendering it useless.  However, a new study shows they don’t work and, in some cases, actually improve the image quality.

“The countermeasures had no effect on plate legibility under dark conditions,” quoted the study. “All rear plate images were clearly legible, with no significant difference between the test plate images and the control plate image. A citation could have been issued in all cases,” the study said.

Washington State law requires license plates to be attached conspicuously at the front and rear of each vehicle. However, the law also allows for an exemption if it is impossible to affix the plate. The Washington state patrol may grant exceptions to this subsection if the body construction of the vehicle makes compliance impossible.”

Oh well.  Back to the drawing board. Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with Reckless Driving , DUI or any other crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.

State v. Afana: ANOTHER Awesome Decision re. Illegal Car Searches

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Constitutional Rights, Drug Offenses, DUI, felony, law enforcement, Methamphetamine, police, Privacy, Search and Seizure, Terry Stop, United States Supreme Court, Washington Supreme Court, , ,

In State v. Afana, the WA Supreme Court held the warrantless search of a vehicle incident to passenger arrest was unlawful, and there is no “good faith” exception under the Washington Constitution.

BACKGROUND FACTS

At 3:40 a.m., Deputy Miller noticed a car which was legally parked on a city street in Spokane County.  He became suspicious, parked his cruiser behind the vehicle, shone his spotlight on it, and made contact.  Two people were inside.  The driver said they were watching a movie on his portable DVD player.  Deputy Miller ran warrant checks on both individuals.  He discovered a warrant existed for the passenger, Ms. Bergeron, for the crime of Criminal Trespass.  He arrests her.

Deputy Miller searched the car and found a black cloth bag behind the driver’s seat.  The bag contained a crystalline substance which looked like methamphetamine.  He also found a glass marijuana pipe, needles, and plastic scales.  Deputy Miller arrested Mr. Alfana, the driver, on Drug Charges.

The case wound up for review before the WA Supreme Court.  in the meantime, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Arizona v. Gant, 129 S. Ct. 1710 (2009).  There, the Court said that police may search a vehicle incident to arrest “only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search or it is reasonable to believe the vehicle contains evidence of the offense of arrest.”

The Court reasoned that, pursuant to Gant, nothing justified the search that happened after arrest.  Although the warrant for Bergeron’s arrest gave Deputy Miller a basis to arrest her, he had no reason to believe that the vehicle she occupied contained evidence of her underlying crime, namely, Criminal Trespass.  The deputy also lacked reason to believe that she posed a safety risk because she was already in custody in the backseat of the patrol vehicle.

Furthermore, the fact that the driver, Afana, was unsecured at the time of the search does not justify the search.  This is so because he was not under arrest at the time the search was conducted, and Gant held that “police may search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search.”  Here, the only arrestee was Bergeron; who was already in the backseat of the police cruiser.

The Court addressed the State’s “Good Faith” exception to warrantless searches.  Historically, this exception allows an otherwise unconstitutional search or seizure if the police officer believes the search was constitutional/reasonable at the time.  Here, the court rejected the State’s “Good Faith” argument because there was no probable cause to conduct the illegal search in the first place.  The evidence was suppressed.

My opinion?  August is a BIG month for handing down post Gant-related decisions (please refer to my blog on State v. Tibbles).  I’m really impressed with how the WA Supremes are handling Gant.  They aren’t chipping away at Gant with BS opinions.  They are, in fact, honoring Gant.  Afana was a unanimous decision, with only one Justice dissenting.  Horray!  🙂

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.