State v. Dempsey

— Police seized Thomas E. Dempsey in the course of an emergency involuntary civil commitment for mental health evaluation pursuant to RCW 71.05.150(4)(b). They searched him and found a bindle of methamphetamine. He was charged with possession. Mr. Dempsey moved to suppress the drug evidence. The court denied his motion and convicted him on stipulated facts. There are two issues on appeal of the denial of his suppression motion: whether the civil commitment was a pretext to search for drugs, and whether the search exceeded the permissible scope of a civil commitment search. We agree with the…