Facts:  Petitioner David Oppelt was convicted of child molestation in the Superior Court for Snohomish County.  Oppelt subsequently appealed his conviction, asserting that the charges against him should have been dismissed due to the fact that the respondent state of Washington’s negligence resulted in six years elapsing between the conclusion of the police investigation and the filing of charges, a delay that prejudiced Oppelt insofar as a key witness could no longer remember certain significant details of her interaction with the alleged victim.  The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Oppelt’s conviction.  Oppelt appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s):  Was Oppelt’s right to due process violated by the negligent delay in filing charges?

Conclusion:  Justice Chambers’ opinion for a unanimous Court affirmed the Washington Court of Appeals, concluding that due process does not require the automatic dismissal of any charges filed after an unjustifiable delay and that the state’s interest in prosecution must be balanced against the prejudice to the defendant caused by the delay.  Thus, the Court found that the trial court did not err when it ruled that prosecuting Oppelt would not deny him due process insofar as the prejudice to Oppelt that resulted from the delay was very slight.

Docket No. 84573-5 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 62074-6)

Petitioner: David Oppelt

(Counsel: Sarah McNeel Hrobsky)

Respondent: State of Washington

(Counsel: Seth Aaron Fine)

Briefs:

Argument: Thursday, May 5, 2011 10:00am

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Prevailing Party: State of Washington (Respondent)

Vote: 9-0

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen2 Court (2011-)

Madsen

Johnson

Alexander

Chambers
(Majority)

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson

Stephens

Wiggins