A landmark victory in Washington’s Court of Appeals has transformed the way trial courts must handle gun surrender in domestic violence cases. ELAP is proud to have partnered with the King County Bar Association (KCBA), Northwest Justice Project (NJP), and the Sexual Violence Law Center (SVLC) to secure the publication of Dela Llana v. Holiwell, making this critical ruling binding law across the state.
The case: A pattern of defiance
In early 2022, Grenadinah Dela Llana filed for a domestic violence protection order (DVPO) against Darrion Holiwell, a former King County Sheriff’s deputy and firearms instructor. The court issued a temporary protection order and an Order to Surrender and Prohibit Weapons, requiring Holiwell to immediately turn in all firearms.
Holiwell claimed he had no weapons to surrender, despite records showing 70 firearms registered to his name. Over nearly two years and roughly 20 hearings, the trial court found Holiwell in persistent contempt. He repeatedly offered “unpersuasive” and “not credible” explanations for the missing weapons, such as off-market sales without receipts.
Eventually, the trial court stopped requiring compliance hearings and instead issued a $100,000 fine. Because Holiwell claimed to be indigent, the fine had little to no coercive power. Effectively, the court had abandoned its duty to account for the missing weapons.
The ruling: A lifesaving mandate
The Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision, ruling that courts cannot simply give up when an abuser remains defiant. The opinion emphasizes that:
- Courts have a statutory duty to verify “timely and complete compliance” with weapon surrender orders.
- The burden of proof lies with the respondent (the abuser) to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that they have complied.
- Swift and certain compliance is mandatory to protect survivors and public health.
By granting the motion to publish this opinion, the court has ensured that its findings are now precedential. This means trial courts throughout Washington are now legally bound to use every tool available—including indefinite jail time for remedial contempt—to ensure abusers are disarmed.
Why this matters
Weapon surrender is a lifesaving public health tool. A survivor is 11 times more likely to be killed when an abuser has access to a gun. For too long, “intractable behavior” from abusers allowed them to keep their weapons simply by exhausting the court’s patience.
This victory ensures that “I don’t know where they are” is no longer an acceptable excuse to end a court’s oversight. ELAP is honored to have stood alongside our partners in this fight to protect survivors and hold abusers accountable.
To read the full published opinion, you can access the court document here.
