Docket No. 78362-4 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 54805-1)  Facts:  Petitioner Keith George was convicted on two counts of violating a no-contact order from which the charges originated separately in Renton and Kent municipal courts, but were tried together in King County Superior Court. George argued that the Renton court erred in resetting the time for trial after he failed to appear to two pretrial hearings because he was detained by the city of Kent and King County Disctict Court on unrelated charges. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78463-9 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 53250-2)  Facts:

While depositions of the charges against petitioners Chhom and Steever were pending under separate prosecutions, they were transported to a jail in Yakima County to serve sentences for misdemeanor convictions in municipal courts located in King County where the charges were filed. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78739-5 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 53250-2)  Facts:  Petitioner Jacob Bowman was convicted of second degree felony murder with the predicate crime of drive-by shooting.  Bowman subsequently filed a personal restraint petition in the Washington Court of Appeals.  It asserted that just as assault cannot serve as a predicate crime to second degree felony murder insofar as the assault is not independent of the murder, drive-by shooting cannot serve as a predicate crime to second degree felony murder insofar as the drive-by shooting is inextricably intertwined with the murder. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78043-9 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 23041-4)  Facts:  Petitioner Daniel Posey was charged with first degree assault and second degree rape.  Although Posey was a minor at the time, the juvenile court was required to decline jurisdiction because first degree assault is a “serious violent offense” under Washington Revised Code §13.04.030.  Following a trial in adult criminal court, Posey was acquitted of first degree assault but convicted of second degree rape and sentenced.  Posey appealed, asserting that the trial court lacked the authority to sentence him insofar as he had been acquitted of the charge upon which its jurisdiction was based.  Posey also asserted that the trial court erred in excluding from evidence an email written by the alleged victim in which she indicated that she would enjoy being subjected to sexual violence.  The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Posey’s conviction and sentence. Continue reading →

Docket No. 77444-7 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 53767-9)  Facts:  Petitioner Joshua Frost was found guilty in King County Superior Court of six counts of robbery, one count of burglary, one count of attempted robbery, and two counts of assault for acting as a driver in several robberies. Frost appealed his convictions claiming the State showed prosecutorial vindictiveness, Continue reading →

Docket No. 78290-3 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 55867-6)  Facts:  After a dispute arose between petitioner Fluor Daniel, Inc. and the respondent Department of Corrections regarding the terms of a contract to construct a prison, both parties agreed to binding arbitration.  The arbitrator subsequently found in favor of Fluor Daniel and awarded it $5,997,645.  Fluor Daniel submitted the decision to the Superior Court for King County for the entry of a judgment and also requested an award of pre-judgment interest for the period that elapsed between the arbitration and the judgment.  The superior court granted Fluor Daniel’s request and awarded it pre-judgment interest, ruling that because the arbitrator’s decision could not be appealed, the damages awarded were fixed and interest began to accrue. Continue reading →

Docket No. 388-5 (from WSBA Case No. 18371)  Facts:  The respondent Washington State Bar Association’s disciplinary board initiated a disciplinary proceeding against petitioner John Keefe after Keefe allegedly failed to comply with court rules and failed to avoid a conflict of interest.  Keefe represented himself at the subsequent hearing and conducted his defense in a manner that suggested that a lack of mental capacity.  In particular, Keefe made a number of statements that reflected delusional and paranoid thinking and a lack of grasp of reality.  As a result, the disciplinary board initiated a supplemental disability proceeding and suspended the disciplinary proceeding.  After hearing testimony from a psychiatric expert who concluded that Keefe likely suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, the disciplinary board recommended that Keefe be suspended and transferred to disability inactive status, finding that Keefe’s mental state renders him incapable of practicing law. Continue reading →

Docket No. 76802-1  Facts:  Respondent Carissa Daniels was charged with homicide by abuse and second degree murder after her son died in her care.  The jury subsequently found Daniels guilty of second degree murder but left the verdict form pertaining to the homicide by abuse charge blank.  Upon appeal, the Washington Court of Appeals reversed Daniels’ conviction on grounds that assault cannot be a predicate offense for second degree murder.  The Washington Court of Appeals also held that the state of Washington may not retry Daniels for homicide by abuse insofar as the jury’s silence on that charge acted as an implied acquittal.  The state of Washington appealed this part of the Washington Court of Appeals’ decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.  Daniels cross-petitioned, asserting that retrying her for second degree murder would subject her to double jeopardy. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78426-4 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 23252-2)  Facts:  Petitioner A.K., a dependent child that had been placed in foster care, ran away from her foster home on several occasions.  At the behest of the respondent Department of Social and Health Services, the Yakima County Juvenile Court exercised its inherent contempt power and sentenced A.K. to a period of detention in excess of that provided for by the juvenile contempt statute. Continue reading →

Docket No. 78321-7 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 55167-1)  Facts:

Petitioner Julie Fowler and Respondent Michael Olver were appointed special administrators of the estates of a couple involved in a committed intimate relationship after both partners died in a traffic accident. Since the couple was not legally married, there was contention on how the shared assets would be divided. After a court order for binding mediation, the mediator concluded that even though majority of the assets were in the male partner’s name, the female partner was entitled to 50 percent of his assets and ordered the transfer. Continue reading →