Docket No. 73155-1 (from Pierce Case No. 00-1-03253-8)  Facts:  After committing fifteen murders in four counties over the course of twenty years, petitioner Robert Yates was convicted of ten counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted first degree murder in the Superior Court for Spokane County and sentenced to 408 years in prison.  Yates was also subsequently convicted of two counts of first degree murder in the Superior Court for Pierce County and sentenced to death.   Yates appealed his convictions and sentence to the Supreme Court of Washington, asserting that the Pierce County prosecuting attorney was equitably estopped from seeking the death penalty by his promise during plea negotiations between Yates and the Spokane County prosecuting attorney that he would not seek the death penalty.  Yates also asserted that the trial court erred in excluding several prospective jurors who expressed opposition to the death penalty, that the prosecutor committed misconduct by making several prejudicial remarks during his trial, and that the jury’s decision to sentence him to death was supported by insufficient evidence and imposed a penalty disproportionate to that imposed in similar cases. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78156-7 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 24681-7)  Facts:  Petitioner Scott Skylstad filed a personal restraint petition (PRP) during the second of two direct appeals in the Washington Court of Appeals more than one year after his conviction of first degree robbery, but while his sentence was still on appeal. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78637-2  Facts:  In 1993, the voters enacted the Taxpayer Protection Act (Washington Revised Code §43.135), which limits the growth of state expenditures and requires voter approval of any tax increase raising general fund revenues in excess of this limit, via initiative.  Thirteen years later, the legislature amended §43.135 to raise the expenditure limit.  In response, the Washington State Farm Bureau Federation petitioned for a declaratory judgment that tax increases subsequently enacted by the legislature to raise revenues in excess of the original limit established by §43.135 are invalid.  The superior court granted summary judgment for the Washington State Farm Bureau Federation, ruling that the tax increases are invalid absent voter approval. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78995-9  Facts:  Respondent John Conte was charged with violating Washington Revised Code §40.16.030, which prohibits knowingly offering any false or forged instrument to be filed, after he allegedly reimbursed several individuals for campaign contributions in order to conceal their source, thereby causing the recipients of those contributions to file false campaign finance disclosure forms.  Conte successfully moved to dismiss the charges, asserting that the civil enforcement provisions of the Public Disclosure Act (Washington Revised Code §42.17) provide the exclusive penalties for the conduct alleged.  The state of Washington appealed the trial court’s ruling. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78715-8 (from Clallam Case No. 05-2-00446-3)  Facts

Petitioners Anderson and other life without parole (LWOP) inmates sought a declaration that a 20 percent deduction of non-work related income by respondent Department of Corrections was illegal and violated Wash. Rev. Code §72.09.480. The Department of Corrections claimed Wash. Rev. Code §72.11.020 granted it the authority to take such deductions and apply them toward court-ordered legal financial obligations (LFOs), Continue reading →

Docket No. 78052-8  Facts:  Petitioner Eric Watson was convicted of first degree child molestation.  Upon his release from prison, he registered, as required by Washington Revised Code §9A.44.130, as a sex offender with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.  Shortly thereafter, Watson was convicted of violating the terms of his community custody and spent an additional 60 days in jail.  After he was released, Watson returned to his residence and did not re-register as a sex offender.  The state of Washington subsequently charged him in the Superior Court for Pierce County with failing to register as a sex offender and Watson was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail.  Watson appealed his conviction, asserting that §9A.44.130 is unconstitutionally vague with regard to whether a sex offender is required to re-register when they return to the same residence after incarceration for a probation violation.  The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Watson’s conviction. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78449-3  Facts:  Seattle City Light, the respondent city of Seattle’s municipal electric utility, entered into agreements with several adjacent cities in which it agreed to pay a percentage of the revenues it received from providing electricity to the cities’ residents to the cities in exchange for the cities’ promise to forbear from establishing their own municipal electric utilities.  Petitioner Doris Burns subsequently petitioned for a declaratory judgment that the agreements are illegal insofar as they violate Washington Revised Code  §35.21.860(1), which prohibits the imposition of franchise fees upon the light and power distribution business by cities and towns. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78128-1  Facts:  Respondent Clark Kinney and petitioner Kenneth Cook formed a corporation that sold and serviced heavy duty trucks.  Kinney eventually decided to sell his stock in the corporation to Cook and the parties signed a memorandum of understanding under which a debt owed to Cook by Kinney was cancelled in exchange for Kinney’s stock being transferred to Cook.  Kinney subsequently filed suit against Cook in an effort to void this agreement, claiming that Cook had misrepresented the fair market value of the stock.  Consequently, Cook was ordered to return the stock to Kinney and Kinney’s debt to Cook was reinstated.  Following the judgment, Cook demanded payment on the debt and Kinney complied in exchange for the return of the stock.  However, prior to the judgment, Cook had authorized the corporation to guarantee a large loan made by Mercedes Benz Credit Corporation to a limited liability corporation that Cook owns.  When Kinney became aware of this loan, he filed suit against Cook, claiming that Cook’s actions violated Washington’s Securities Act (Washington Revised Code §21.20). Continue reading →

Docket No. 78656-9 (from King Case No. 03-1-09574-1)  Facts:  Petitioner Michael Miles was charged with securities fraud, witness intimidation and tampering, and theft.  The charges were supported by evidence gathered by the Department of Financial Institutions’ Securities Division, which issued an administrative subpoena to Miles’ bank in the course of its investigation of allegations that Miles defrauded investors.  The trial court denied Miles’ motion to suppress evidence derived from the search of his bank records, ruling that because Miles had a reduced expectation of privacy given his participation in the pervasively regulated securities industry, his right to privacy under Article I §7 of the Washington State Constitution had not been infringed by the Securities Division’s failure to notify him of the search. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78652-6 (from King Case No. 04-2-40867-9)  Synopsis: When a benefits recipient lives in the same household as his or her paid care provider, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) applies the shared living rule which reduces the recipient’s hours of paid in-home care services. Continue reading →