WA: If the state wants to dismiss after a motion to suppress is granted, it may; court can’t force a trial

After a suppression motion suppressed most of the evidence against defendant, the state elected to dismiss. The trial court wouldn’t let them and made the case proceed to trial, convicting the defendant on what was left, which wasn’t much. “Addressing a question of first impression in Washington, we hold that the judicial branch’s discretion to deny a government motion to dismiss criminal charges exists as a check on abuse of prosecutorial discretion, not to usurp or interfere with the good faith exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Nothing suggests that the State’s decision to dismiss charges against Mr. Agustin was anything other than a good faith exercise of its charging authority. We reverse the disposition order and remand with directions to dismiss the charges against Mr. Agustin.” State v. Agustin, 2018 Wash. App. LEXIS 1 (Jan. 4, 2018).