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Brian Smith v. Washington

Paid petition · Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1, No. 76340-7-1 · judgment December 3, 2018

Certiorari denied · October 5, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Question presented

When the subject of a warrant for a routine blood draw to detect alcohol indicates he is needle-phobic and has agreed to a breath test, does the Fourth Amendment permit the State to place numerous large men on the suspect, threaten him with a taser, place him in fourpoint restraints, and inj ect him with antipsychotic drugs as a general sedative to draw his blood, or does it require a breath test or a second warrant from a magistrate fully informed of the circumstances to authorize such force?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Lenell Rae Nussbaum
Law Office of Lenell Nussbaum, PLLC

For respondent
Hilary A. Thomas
Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney's Office

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 05 2020
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Sep 09 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
  3. Aug 19 2020
    Waiver of right of respondent Washington to respond filed.
  4. Jul 27 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 31, 2020)