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Appeals Court Rules Against the State
The issue of ‘alarm’ was raised and there is some interesting reading.
Appeals Court Rules Against the State
The issue of ‘alarm’ was raised and there is some interesting reading.
The State appeals the trial court's order suppressing evidence against Gregory E. Casad. Casad walked down the street in Port Angeles on a Saturday afternoon carrying two rifles partially wrapped in a towel. A woman called 911. Police responded, detained Casad, frisked him, and asked why he carried the weapons. Casad admitted that he was a felon, an admission that lead to his arrest and charges for unlawfully possessing the weapons. The trial court held that the police had no authority to detain Casad for a Terry1 stop and suppressed the evidence as the fruit of an unlawful seizure. We affirm.
Casad challenged the police authority to detain and search him. The trial court ruled that the police did not have authority to detain Casad and, therefore, suppressed the evidence that the police found as a result of the detention.
The State could not obtain a conviction without the suppressed evidence and so it dismissed its case against Casad.
The State argued that police could reasonably surmise that there was a substantial possibility that Casad was unlawfully displaying a weapon. The unlawful display statute reads in relevant part:
It shall be unlawful for any person to carry, exhibit, display, or draw any firearm. . . in a manner, under circumstances, and at a time and place that . . . warrantsalarm for the safety of other persons.
RCW 9.41.270(1). Alarm is "warranted" if the circumstances are such that a reasonable person would be alarmed.
The trial court held:
Here, the Defendant was carrying a rifle only partially concealed and clearly identifiable as a rifle to the citizen who made the call as well as law enforcement officers, with the barrel pointing towards the ground walking on a main thoroughfare in the City of Port Angeles in daylight hours. In fact there were two rifles, which would likely be less alarming than the carrying of one rifle. Nothing indicates that the manner in which the Defendant was carrying the weapons in any way would give reasonable cause for alarm unless the mere fact of carrying a weapon within the city limits in the open in daylight on a major thoroughfare in and of itself would cause such alarm. The statute does not and, under the Constitution, cannot prohibit the mere carrying of a firearm in public. Therefore the Court finds that the officers at the time of the initial contact had no reasonable articulable suspicion that any criminal activity was occurring.
We note that, in connection with this case, several individuals have commented that they would find it strange, maybe shocking, to see a man carrying a gun down the street in broad daylight. Casad's appellate counsel conceded that she would personally react with shock, but she emphasized that an individual's lack of comfort with firearms does not equate to reasonable alarm. We agree. It is not unlawful for a person to responsibly walk down the street with a visible firearm, even if this action would shock some people.
And the facts in evidence do not support a reasonable suspicion that Casad carried the weapons in a fashion that would warrant alarm. Casad wrapped a towel around the rifles and he cradled them in both arms, so he could not readily reach the trigger and he did not have the rifles "at the ready." RP at 73. In Spencer, this court upheld a conviction for unlawful display partially because the defendant warranted alarm by carrying a rifle while walking briskly with his head down, in "a hostile, assaultive type manner with the weapon ready." 75 Wn. App. at 121. But Casad's demeanor did not warrant alarm; he walked straight down the path with eyes focused forward. He did not wear combat type clothing nor act erratically. In short, other than the fact that he was carrying the guns down the street to a pawn shop, which is typically a lawful activity, Casad did nothing to warrant alarm.