State v. Hendrickson

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court held that a warrantless search of Hendrickson's impounded pickup, conducted four days after his arrest and based on an anonymous tip, violated art. I, § 7 of the Washington Constitution because the State proved no exception to the per se unreasonable warrant rule: his consent, given as a condition of work release, ended when his work release status terminated, the search was investigatory rather than an inventory search, and no exigency existed. The court affirmed the delivery conviction and the RCW 9.94A.310(5) enhancement for delivering cocaine in a county jail, concluding the inmate smoking area on the courthouse steps was part of the jail's real property and the statute was not void for vagueness, and it rejected the ineffective assistance claim because the prior-conviction evidence, though wrongly admitted without objection, was not prejudicial given the powerful evidence of guilt. It reversed the Court of Appeals on the possession with intent to deliver count and remanded for further proceedings.