State of Washington v. Eric Daniel Cruz

[As amended by order of the Court of Appeals September 22, 2016.]

Pennell, J.

¶1 Law enforcement need not obtain a warrant prior to conducting a protective vehicle search, so long as there is reasonable suspicion a suspect is dangerous and may gain immediate control of weapons. We are confronted with whether a suspect’s potential access to firearms alone satisfies these prerequisites. Under the circumstances presented here, involving a recreational sportsman cited for a fishing violation, we hold it does not. We thus affirm the superior court’s order of suppression.

FACTS

¶2 Late one August…