Q13 Fox April 18, 2019
SEATTLE — An evenly split ruling from the Washington Supreme Court on Thursday had lawyers scratching their heads.
The case arose from a domestic violence call. Three police officers responded to a passerby’s report of a loud argument in an apartment. When they arrived and demanded to be allowed in to check on the people inside, one of the residents, Solomon McLemore, declined.
The officers broke down the door, as allowed under an exception to the general requirement that police need a warrant or permission to enter. They found that neither McLemore nor his girlfriend was injured, but they arrested McLemore for obstruction.
The issue for the Supreme Court was whether McLemore’s refusal to help the officers enter the home constituted obstruction. González, joined by Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst and Justices Charles Johnson and Sheryl Gordon McCloud, said it did not. Stephens, joined by Justices Susan Owens, Mary Yu and Charles Wiggins, said it did.
Without either side garnering a majority, the split means the question remains unresolved.
More:
https://q13fox.com/2019/04/18/washington-supreme-court-baffles-lawyers-with-split-opinion/
