Opinion ID: 2600503
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lewis v. State

Text: ¶ 3 On December 12, 2002, at approximately 1:00 a.m., Auburn Police Officer Douglas Faini witnessed Steven A. Lewis' truck travel in excess of the speed limit and turn without signaling. [1] After the truck turned into a parking lot, the officer saw Lewis throw a beer can out of the window before he stopped the truck. Officer Faini, who was in uniform and driving a patrol car, approached Lewis' truck. A video camera mounted in the officer's patrol car made a sound and video recording of their conversation. ¶ 4 Officer Faini asked Lewis several questions, to which Lewis did not respond. The officer noted that Lewis' eyes appeared bloodshot and watery and that he could smell the odor of intoxicating liquor emanating from the vehicle. Administrative Record (AR) at 12. Officer Faini called for additional officers to assist him with Lewis, who would not exit his truck. Another officer used a taser weapon on Lewis in order to get him out of the truck. The officers handcuffed Lewis and placed him in the patrol car. Officer Faini arrested Lewis for DUI and refusal to cooperate. AR at 12-13. At the police station, Officer Faini read Lewis the statutory implied consent warnings, but Lewis refused to take a breath test. [2] ¶ 5 Following this incident, the Department of Licensing (DOL) revoked Lewis' driver's license for two years. Lewis contested the revocation at a DOL administrative hearing. At the hearing, Lewis offered the video and audio recording of the traffic stop into evidence. Lewis then moved to suppress Officer Faini's police report because the officer had failed to adequately inform Lewis that the officer was recording the traffic stop as required by Washington's privacy act. ¶ 6 The parties dispute whether Officer Faini did advise Lewis that he was being recorded. Officer Faini's police report does not state that he advised Lewis that he was being recorded. The recording of the incident is garbled at the point where Officer Faini first approached Lewis' truck. Although the parties agree that the officer said the word recorded, the parties dispute whether the word was part of a warning that Lewis was being recorded. Pet'r's Suppl. Br. (Lewis) at 15. ¶ 7 The hearing officer denied the suppression motion and upheld Lewis' license revocation, finding that the State did not seek to admit the audio and video evidence and that the officer had informed Lewis that he was recording their conversation. Lewis appealed DOL's decision to King County Superior Court, which reversed the revocation based on a finding that substantial evidence did not support that the officer informed Lewis of the recording. The court held that this failure violated the privacy act and suppressed any video and audio recording, as well [as] any observations made by the arresting officer. Clerk's Papers (CP) (Lewis) (hereinafter LCP) at 70. The State appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals, which reversed the superior court, holding that traffic stop conversations with a police officer were not private and could be recorded. Lewis v. State, 125 Wash.App. 666, 681-82, 105 P.3d 1029 (2005).