State v. Easter

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court held that the Fifth Amendment right to silence extends to pre-arrest situations, and that the State violated Patrick Easter's right by eliciting testimony that he ignored and was evasive toward the officer questioning him at the accident scene and by repeatedly branding him a 'smart drunk' in closing argument. Because the eyewitness and accident-reconstruction evidence did not overwhelmingly establish the State's theory that Easter drove the wrong way on a one-way street, the court concluded the constitutional error was prejudicial rather than harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The court reversed Easter's four convictions for vehicular assault and remanded for a new trial. The opinion was unanimous.