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House Bill 1789, which broadens the prosecution of felony DUI defendants, was passed by the state Legislature with unanimous votes in both the House and Senate. Gov. Chris Gregoire should sign it into law.

Washington state has a DUI problem, as reflected in the number of people dying in DUI-related traffic accidents.

In 2009, 491 people died on Washington highways. That was the lowest number of traffic fatalities since 1955. Last year, the number of traffic deaths dropped even further — to 458. That’s the lowest number since the state began keeping records.

While the downward trend is encouraging, one related statistic is especially troubling. Of those 458 deaths, 41 percent involved drivers under the influence of intoxicants. That is far ahead of the national average of 32 percent.

Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste has maintained that the state could reduce the number of DUI-related fatalities if officers were allowed to conduct DUI checkpoints.

Many states allow police to stop every driver going through a checkpoint to determine whether the driver is operating a motor vehicle under the influence. Civil rights advocates have successfully prevented Washington state from legalizing DUI checkpoints.
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A Seattle attorney is battling to keep the news media from seeing a deputy’s report from her June arrest on suspicion of drunken driving took a novel twist this week, baffling officials with the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Her attorney, Tyler Firkins, filed a motion Monday in King County District Court in Shoreline, seeking to use a rule that governs which records the court can release to bar the Sheriff’s Office from releasing the report. A Superior Court judge already has ruled the report can be released under the state Public Disclosure Act, a decision that she is appealing.

At issue in the new motion is a rule known as Administrative Rule for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction No. 9, or ARLJ 9, which exempts district-court officials from releasing police reports unless they have been admitted into evidence, incorporated into a court pleading or have been placed into public record. In district court, a police report isn’t considered evidence unless it is submitted as an exhibit during trial or a plea hearing, something that hasn’t happened in the the attorney’s case.

According to Firkins’ filing, she is seeking to have that rule extended to the Sheriff’s Office to prevent it from releasing the report.

“We release 17,000 case reports a year under the [state] public-disclosure statute and we’ve never heard this argument in the past,” said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.

The Sheriff’s Office and other law-enforcement agencies routinely release redacted police reports to members of the news media — often even before a suspect is charged with a crime — under the state’s Public Disclosure Act. However, under state law, law-enforcement agencies can withhold reports if releasing them would jeopardize an ongoing investigation — an exemption that doesn’t apply in a case that the Sheriff’s Office considers a straightforward DUI.

They did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday.

John Cobb, the King County deputy prosecutor who has been representing the Sheriff’s Office in the matter, has been out of town so he hasn’t seen Firkins’ latest filing.

But on Friday, the two attorneys “had a polite difference of opinion regarding the application of Rule 9 to state statute that requires the release of public records and police reports,” Cobb said by phone from Missoula, Mont.

Though he hasn’t formed an official opinion yet, Cobb said he can’t see how a District Court rule could trump the state’s Public Disclosure Act.
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Randolph is suspended for two games: Zach Randolph, a forward for the Los Angeles Clippers, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol Monday morning by the California Highway Patrol.

Several hours later, the Clippers suspended Randolph, 27, for two games for what officials called “conduct detrimental to the team.” There are five games remaining in the Clippers’ season.

“I regret the situation happened,” Randolph said at the Clippers’ practice facility. “I hope people don’t rush to judgment.”

Asked whether the incident revealed a larger problem, Randolph said, “I don’t think so. Situations like this happen. It was a bad mistake, a mistake in judgment.”

Randolph scored 18 points in an 88-85 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.

After the game while driving a white Rolls-Royce, Randolph was spotted weaving “in and out of [a] lane,” by two officers at 2:25 a.m., CHP spokesman Tony Garrett said.

Source

Seattle Lawyers.