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WA: Gant retroactive and GFE applied

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Washington applies the good faith exception to a search incident that occurred and was legal pre-Gant, following McCane (post here) that the police would not be deterred by suppression. State v. Riley, 2010 Wash. App. LEXIS 273 (February 8, 2010) (dissent). The court discussing the conflicting cases. ¶1 Relying on the prevailing interpretation of a United States Supreme Court case, a police officer searched Eugene Riley's car incident to his arrest under circumstances later declared unconstitutional in Arizona v. Gant. Because United States Supreme Court retroactivity precedent requires the retroactive application of “clear break” Fourth Amendment rules, the officer violated Riley's Fourth Amendment rights. But the officer in this case was acting in good faith reliance on existing Fourth Amendment law...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 26, 2010 (boomark / email).