Under Washington law, self-defense is a valid defense to an assault charge. If a jury is not properly instructed on the law regarding self-defense, however, a defendant may be improperly convicted. In Washington v. Backemeyer, the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington overturned the Defendant’s conviction for assault and granted him a new […]

Under Washington law, if a person violates the terms of a no-contact order by assaulting the protected person, he or she can be convicted of a felony. Further, a person subject to a no-contact order cannot violate the terms of the order, regardless of the reason for doing so. In State of Washington v. Steven Brian […]

A felony conviction may affect your ability to possess a handgun under Washington law. If you are prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a conviction, the state must advise you of the prohibition at the time of your conviction, and the state must show that you were advised of the prohibition to prosecute you […]

If you are charged with a crime, whether or not you are convicted largely depends on what evidence the state is permitted to use against you at trial. Under Washington law, the state must set forth independent evidence of a crime before any confessions made by a suspect may be considered as evidence of guilt. […]

SOUTH SOUND BUSINESS Local DUI Defense Lawyers to Reimburse Rides Home from Beer Festival DUI defense attorneys Smith and White will reimburse rides home from the Brew Five Three Beer and Music Festival this Saturday, the Tacoma law firm recently announced. The firm will cover up to $20 of a cab or ride-share ride for […]

How to Avoid a DUI Offense It’s summer time and we’re all eager to get outside, enjoy the nice weather and inevitably crack open a nice cold beer, preferably in the company of good friends. Tacoma’s legendary Brew Five Three Beer and Music Festival is quickly approaching and as a proud sponsor, we believe in […]

By James J. White, Directing Attorney at Smith & White, PLLC. It can be bad enough you did not realize you were on probation. But many cases do have a “stealth” probation. You do not have a probation officer, you do not need to do anything affirmative for the court, yet you are still on […]

Crime bosses always seem to have plenty of money.  I’m trying to think of one movie or series where the crime boss ran out of money.  Since he has plenty of money he always has the best lawyers.  I’ve been doing this 20 years.  If I’ve ever had a crime boss for a client he […]

Some people have an elevator speech. A neat, tidy phrase that is supposed to sum up who they are, what they do, and why you should care. “Compassionate Counsel, Passionate Defense.” Sure, it sounds good on paper. But when you’re facing down criminal charges in Tacoma or Pierce County, Lakewood or Puyallup, what does it […]

There has been plenty of press about the opiate epidemic that has swept the United States.  CDC opioid death statistics.  How the doctors neglect to warn people about the addictive properties of the painkillers which they are liberally prescribing and whether the FDA should approve such addictive substances to begin with are the subject for […]