The collateral consequences of conviction for a crime are vast, prolonged, and disproportionately crippling to low income communities. In the past 12 months, I’ve seen one person be denied entry into Canada because of a shoplifting conviction in 1978; another be denied the opportunity to be an immigration sponsor for his foreign bride because of a…
Last week, the Law Office of Chris Van Vechten had its 150th case dismissal: a possession of a stolen motor vehicle case. These are cases where Chris took the client to trial and received “not guilty” verdicts on all counts or via motion/negotiation in the pre-trial phase got all charges completely dismissed. Chris has successfully…
In 2016, the Washington Supreme Court ruled 7 to 1 in the Baird decision that Washington’s “implied consent statute does not authorize a warrantless search, and a driver has no constitutional right to refuse a breath test because such a search falls under the search incident to arrest exception to the warrant requirement.” The Court…
The Law Office of Chris Van Vechten has served as counsel to clients who seem to represent every cross-section of our community. Chris has represented: professional athletes; politicians and elected officials; the homeless and the addicted; business owners and working class heroes; soldiers who serve our country, and immigrants – documented or otherwise – who…
The Law Office of Chris Van Vechten has a new location in down-town Tacoma, conveniently located just a few blocks away from the Pierce County Court House. Our new address is 306 S 7th St, Suite 208, Tacoma, WA, 98402. Look forward to seeing you soon.
The collateral consequences of a DUI conviction are numerous and harsh. But often my client’s primary concern is preventing their driving license from being suspended or restoring it upon resolving their matter. Because many DUI defendants struggle to understand the following important facts about DOL suspensions, and consequently make decisions in court that do not…
All DUI’s are tough. The public is rarely on the driver’s side, and the Government’s formulaic narrative is always backed by experts, and designed to frame their too often subjective conclusions in an extremely objective light. Additionally, the law requires a finding of guilt based on arbitrary blood alcohol and THC ratings which reflect the…
Summer is a great time to be outside and to socialize….and law enforcement knows it. Summer bears witness to a noticeable uptick in all crimes and misdemeanors – especially alcohol related. DUI and MIP are the obvious ones – but some alcohol crimes are more esoteric. Recently the Law Office of Chris Van Vechten was…
