Washington

Pot-permissive states won’t be sued by the Justice Department

The U.S. Justice Department has announced it won’t challenge laws in Colorado and Washington that allow the recreational use of marijuana, even though the drug remains illegal under federal law. Deputy Attorney General James Cole said in a memo to U.S. attorneys that the decision was based on “limited prosecutorial…

Aug 30, 2013 3:05 PM CDT

Bow and arrow, fishing line play key role in efforts to smuggle drugs into jails

David Wayne Jordan, 36, said he was squirrel hunting with his bow and arrow. But that excuse didn’t fly after a Whatcom County sheriff’s employee allegedly saw him shoot a marijuana-laden arrow at a Washington state jail, reports the Associated Press. Jordan, who fled the scene but was tracked down…

Aug 29, 2013 10:15 PM CDT

19 ‘right to dry’ states outlaw clothesline bans; is yours among them?

Once upon a time, a clothesline was a standard feature of most back yards. But concern that publicly airing clean laundry attached with clothespins to a rope or wire was unsightly, or obstructed views, or even created a safety risk (strangulation is sometimes cited) led a number of condominium associations…

Aug 14, 2013 8:24 PM CDT

Jailhouse lawyer who wrote winning US Supreme Court cert petition will soon clerk for DC Circuit

A decade ago, Shon Hopwood was a convicted bank robber serving time. Hitting the books in the prison library, he honed his legal skills and wrote, on behalf of a fellow inmate, a rare winning certiorari petition to the U.S. Supreme Court that a former U.S. solicitor general who later…

Aug 7, 2013 7:44 PM CDT

Inmate pleads guilty in courthouse bomb threat, says he did it on a dare

A jail inmate pleaded guilty on Wednesday to threatening to bomb the federal courthouse in Spokane, Wash., explaining that he did it on a dare. Scott Franklin, 42, was an inmate at the Spokane County Jail when he mailed the handwritten letter with his signature, the Spokesman-Review reports. “I am…

Aug 1, 2013 11:54 AM CDT

Lawyers can’t use someone’s immigration status to intimidate them in civil cases, says ethics rule

Mentioning an individual’s immigration status in court might not seem all that intimidating to a U.S. citizen. But it can deter someone who is undocumented from pursuing a civil claim, or improperly influence a jury, the Washington Supreme Court says. It clarified an existing state rule of legal ethics last…

Jul 17, 2013 9:35 PM CDT

Pioneering Labrador retriever to retire after 7 years at courthouse, will now ‘just be a dog’

One of the nation’s first service animals trained to work with witnesses in court is retiring after about seven years on the job. Stilson, an 80-pound black Labrador retriever, will be moving to California from Washington state with his longtime owner and handler, Heidi Potter, who is pursuing other opportunities…

Jul 16, 2013 10:44 PM CDT

Did cities violate right to counsel by providing ‘a warm body with a law degree’?

At closing arguments Tuesday in a trial over the public defenders provided by two Washington state muncipalities to low-income individuals charged with crimes, counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge to find that “a warm body with a law degree doesn’t cut it.” But the defense…

Jun 19, 2013 5:25 PM CDT

Disbelieved and accused of making a false rape report, now-vindicated victim sues

Despite physical evidence that supported her story that a stranger had bound, gagged, raped and photographed her in 2008 in the transitional housing apartment in which she was living, an 18-year-old Washington state woman was disbelieved. Pressured by police into recanting, she was criminally charged for making a false rape…

Jun 11, 2013 8:00 PM CDT

Trial begins in federal class action over public defender caseloads in municipal court

Two cities in Washington say they never systematically violated the right to counsel of criminal defendants and do an even better job now, under new standards adopted by the state’s top court. But the American Civil Liberties Union contends otherwise, in a class action that went to trial Monday in…

Jun 5, 2013 10:30 PM CDT

FBI distributed child porn for several weeks as a sting after seizing service, court records say

The FBI seized and operated a child-pornography service for about two weeks last year as it worked to identify some 5,000 customers. Court records in one Washington state man’s case and an affidavit by a Washington state-based FBI special agent working on a Nebraska-based investigation say the FBI continued to…

May 29, 2013 3:50 PM CDT

Man charged with sending letter tainted with deadly poison to federal judge

A Washington state man has been indicted and arrested, accused of sending a ricin-tainted letter to a federal judge in Spokane. Matthew Ryan Buquet, 37, was in federal court in Spokane on Wednesday, charged with mailing threatening communications. Authorities say the deadly poison in the letter mailed to senior U.S.…

May 23, 2013 1:25 PM CDT

Man faces ‘deadly weapon’ bulldozer burglary case; his lawyer protests ‘extremely creative’ charges

A Washington state man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to nine charges related to his alleged use of a deadly weapon—“to wit, a bulldozer”—to level the homes of neighbors during what prosecutors are calling a burglary. Barry A. Swegle could get as much as life in prison without parole if…

May 17, 2013 5:28 PM CDT

‘Swift Justice’ with TV’s Jackie Glass is followed by real-life criminal case

Sued by her own son, a Clark County, Wash., woman seized the opportunity to resolve the debit card civil-theft case by appearing on the CBS television program Swift Justice with Jackie Glass. When Glass scolded Hazel E. Trent for mistreating her son and imposed a $5,000 judgment in an episode…

May 15, 2013 9:39 PM CDT

Bankruptcy co-chairs leap from Cadwalader to O’Melveny, along with another partner

Three bankruptcy partners from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, including the co-chairs of the practice group, are headed to O’Melveny & Myers. In a Tuesday announcement, O’Melveny said that co-chairs John J. Rapisarsdi and George A. Davis would serve in the same role at their new firm, working out of its…

May 7, 2013 8:29 PM CDT