City of Kennewick v. Day

Doug Day (defendant) was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. The arresting officer searched Day’s truck and found a marijuana pipe and some marijuana in an armrest. Day immediately denied any knowledge of the drug materials and said that he had just picked up his truck from a repair shop. A blood-alcohol test showed that Day had not been intoxicated. However, Day was charged with possessing drug paraphernalia that he either had used or intended to use. At trial, Day presented evidence that (1) an auto-repair shop had worked on his truck for four months right before the arrest, (2) a shop employee that had worked on Day’s truck had been fired for suspected drug usage, and (3) a previous shop customer had complained about finding drug paraphernalia in the customer’s car after having it at the shop. Day attempted to introduce additional evidence that he had a reputation for not doing drugs in order to show that it was unlikely that he had used or intended to use the marijuana pipe. The trial court excluded the evidence as inadmissible evidence of past conduct. Day was convicted of possessing drug paraphernalia with intent to use it. Day appealed, arguing that the trial court should have allowed evidence of his reputation for sobriety. The superior court reversed the conviction, but the appellate court reinstated it. Day appealed to the Washington Supreme Court.