The State of Washington, Respondent v. Bryan P. Olson, Petitioner

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court, en banc, affirmed the Court of Appeals' denial of Bryan Olson's motion to dismiss the State's appeal from an order suppressing evidence. Olson challenged only the procedural adequacy of the appeal — the State noticed appeal from the dismissal order rather than the suppression order and failed to assign error to the dismissal order — not the merits of the suppression ruling. Holding that RAP 1.2(a) requires liberal interpretation so that technical violations of the appellate rules are normally overlooked where the violation is minor, prejudicing no one and inconveniencing the court minimally, the court read State v. Fortun and its progeny narrowly as involving issues never raised at all, and overruled them to the extent they conflict with today's holding.