Appellant's Brief - Washington State Courts

Probable cause for an arrest exists when "the facts and
circumstances within the arresting officer's knowledge and of which he has
reasonably trustworthy information are sufficient in themselves to warrant a
man of reasonable caution in a belief that an offense has been.. .committed."
State v. Herzog, 73 Wn.App. 34, 53, 867 P.2d 648, review denied, 124
Wn.2d 1022, 881 P.2d 255 (1994).
Here, Officer Budinich arrested Mr. Hendrickson for possession of
stolen property based solely on the fact that Mr. Hendrickson had been
seen walking up to the stolen trailer and placing a box on the ground next
to the trailer. Placing a box on the ground next to a trailer does not
warrant a belief of possession of that trailer, nor does it warrant a belief of
any criminal act being committed. The facts and circumstances known to
Officer Budinich at the time he arrested Mr. Hendrickson were not
sufficient to warrant a man of reasonable caution to believe that Mr.
Hendrickson was committing any offense.
All evidence discovered in this case subsequent to the arrest of Mr.
Hendrickson is tainted by the lack of probable cause for his arrest and was
therefore inadmissible. "Poison fruit" resulting from the invalid arrest
includes the information discovered pursuant to the search warrant
obtained for the trailer afier it was impounded since the complaint uses
information regarding Mr. Hendrickson's prior convictions, current