Docket No. 79172-4  Facts: After petitioner Mark Potter was cited for driving with a suspended driver’s license, his automobile was impounded and eventually auctioned by the respondent Washington State Patrol pursuant to the procedures outlined in Washington Administrative Code §204-96-010. Asserting that his automobile had been unlawfully converted, Potter filed a class action suit against the Washington State Patrol on behalf of himself and all of the owners of automobiles impounded pursuant to §204-96-010. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78331-4 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 23692-7)  Facts:  Petitioner Cecile Woods filed suit against respondent Kittitas County in the Superior Court for Kittitas County pursuant to the Land Use Petition Act (Washington Revised Code §36.70C).  Woods sought the reversal of the Kittitas County Commission’s decision to rezone a parcel of land from forest and range to rural.  The superior court granted the petition and reversed the rezone, ruling that it was inconsistent with the Growth Management Act (Washington Revised Code §36.70A).  Upon appeal, the Washington Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the superior court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to decide whether the rezone is consistent with the Growth Management Act. Continue reading →

Docket No. 79172-4  Facts:  After he was found driving with a suspended driver’s license, petitioner Mark Potter’s automobile was impounded by the respondent Washington State Patrol pursuant to the mandatory impoundment policy established by Washington Administrative Code §204-96-010.  Following the Supreme Court of Washington’s decision in All Around Underground, Inc. v. Washington State Patrol, in which the Court held that §204-96-010 is an unlawful exercise of the statutory authority granted to the Washington State Patrol in Washington Revised Code §46.55.113, Potter filed a class action lawsuit against the Washington State Patrol on behalf of himself and all of the owners of automobiles impounded pursuant to §204-96-010.  The trial court granted summary judgment for the Washington State Patrol, ruling that an action for conversion cannot be brought against the Washington State Patrol insofar as its actions were authorized by law and reasonable. Continue reading →

Docket No. 200,376-1 (from WSBA Case No. 5882)  Facts:  Petitioner Timothy Carpenter was charged with two counts of misconduct by the Washington State Bar Association’s Disciplinary Board arising out of his representation of two codefendents in a lawsuit to collect on a property transaction. Continue reading →