Wash. S. Ct. Excludes Evidence from Pat-Down

The state Supreme Court has thrown out the 2005 methamphetamine conviction of an Olympia man, ruling that police had no right to frisk him just because he was apparently intoxicated and acting nervous in a public building.

The unanimous court overturned a decision by a Thurston County judge and the state Court of Appeals, both of which had found Lt. Don Stevens of the Tumwater Police Department justified in patting down Michael Setterstrom for weapons in the lobby of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) building.

Court: Police pat-down was not justified | Seattle Times Newspaper, May 23, 2008.

The case is State v. Setterstrom, No. 79690-4, Wa Courts opinion (May 22, 2008) (J.M. Johnson, J.).