Facts: Petitioner Patricia Schultz was convicted of possession of methamphetamine in the Superior Court for Clallam County after a search of her apartment occasioned by police responding to a neighbor’s report of suspected domestic violence revealed methamphetamine. Schultz subsequently appealed her conviction, asserting that the search was unlawful and violated her right to privacy under Article II ยง7 of the Washington State Constitution. The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Schultz’s conviction, ruling that the warrantless search was justified by Schultz’s acquiescence and by the presence of exigent circumstances, specifically the likelihood of domestic violence. Schultz appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.
Question(s): Was the warrantless search of Schultz’s apartment justified by either Schultz’s acquiescence or by the presence of exigent circumstances?
Conclusion: Justice Chambers’ opinion for the Court reversed the Washington Court of Appeals, holding that Schultz’s acquiescence alone was insufficient to authorize the search and that the facts available at the time to the officers arriving at the scene did not establish a sufficient likelihood of domestic violence so as to create a reasonable belief that exigent circumstances justifying a warrantless entry into the apartment existed. Thus, the Court vacated Schultz’s conviction, ordered the evidence derived from the search of her apartment suppressed, and remanded the case.
Docket No. 82238-7 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 36928-1)
Petitioner: Patricia S. Schultz, aka Patricia S. Peterson
(Counsel: Manek R. Mistry and Jodi R. Backlund)
Respondent: State of Washington
(Counsel: Brian Patrick Wendt)
Briefs:
Argument: Thursday, January 14, 2010 1:30pm
[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]
Audio: Washington Supreme Court
Decided: Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Prevailing Party: Patricia S. Schultz, aka Patricia S. Peterson (Petitioner)
Vote: 5-4
Citation: Pending
Court: Madsen1 Court (2010-2011)
Madsen
Johnson
Alexander
Sanders
Chambers
(Majority)
Owens
Fairhurst
(Dissent)
Johnson
Stephens
Note: We post only slip opinion(s) as published at the time of the decision. Please consult Washington Reports printed volumes for the opinion(s) in their final form. Each opinion should appear next to the Justice who authored it.