Jennings

BACKGROUND

In August 2003, Jennings was released from Washington state prison after serving seventeen months for attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle. After his release, Jennings was under community supervision by the Washington State Department of Corrections.

In March 2004, Seattle police found photographs in an impounded car that showed Jennings holding a handgun in February 2004. Jennings’ prior felony convictions barred him from possessing a firearm under state and federal law, and a condition of his supervised release included the same restric- tion. The photos prompted Jennings’ community corrections officer, Steven Lambert, to request a Department of Correc- tions felony warrant for Jennings’ arrest. Later that month, Lambert and Seattle police encountered Jennings on a public street and arrested him. During a search incident to the arrest, the officers found a loaded handgun in Jennings’ waistband.

Jennings was initially charged with unlawful possession of a firearm under Washington law, and assigned a public defender as counsel for that proceeding. However, a federal criminal complaint was subsequently filed against Jennings, and the state charge was…