Docket No. 78888-0  Facts:  Petitioner Lawrence Foxhoven was convicted of malicious mischief in the Superior Court for Whatcom County after etching graffiti on the windows of several businesses.  Foxhoven appealed his conviction, asserting that the trial court’s admission of evidence of his prior criminal history of graffiti violated Washington Rule of Evidence 404(b), which excludes evidence of prior bad acts when that evidence is used for the purpose of proving conformity with those acts on a different occasion.  The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Foxhoven’s conviction. Continue reading →

Docket No. 79978-4 (from Snohomish Case No. 04-3-02385-0)  Facts:  After petitioner Brenda King and respondent Michael King filed for divorce, Michael King moved to be named the primary residential parent for their three children.  At the subsequent custody hearing, Michael King was represented by counsel while Brenda King appeared pro se due to her indigency.  The trial court awarded Michael King primary residential care of the children and decision-making authority.  Brenda King subsequently moved for a new hearing and requested that counsel be appointed at public expense to represent her.  The trial court denied the motion, ruling that it lacked authority to appoint counsel to represent Brenda King insofar as the legislature has not authorized funding for representation for indigent parties in child custody hearings. Continue reading →

Docket No. 80006-5  Facts: In response to the petitioner Seattle Housing Authority’s issuing of Rule #42, which prohibits signs, flyers, placards, advertisements, and similar materials from the exteriors of unit doors in public housing, the respondent Resident Action Council sought a declaratory judgment that Rule #42 violates the 1^st Amendment to the United States Constitution. Continue reading →

Docket No. 79977-6  Facts:  Asserting violations of the Consumer Protection Act (Washington Revised Code §19.86), petitioner Indoor Billboard, Inc. filed suit against respondent Integra Telecom of Washington, Inc. in the Superior Court for King County.  Indoor Billboard alleged that Integra Telecom engaged in an unfair or deceptive practice by charging its Washington local service customers a surcharge that it falsely labeled as a presubscribed interexchange carrier charge (a type of surcharge permitted under Federal Communications Commission regulations).  The superior court granted summary judgment for Integra Telecom, ruling that Indoor Billboard failed as a matter of law to establish that Integra Telecom engaged in an unfair or deceptive practice and that the voluntary payment doctrine bars Indoor Billboard’s claim in any event. Continue reading →

Docket No. 79976-8  Facts:  Respondent Curtis Beaupre, an officer with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, filed suit against petitioner Pierce County in the Superior Court for King County after he was accidentally injured by another officer while pursuing a suspect.  Pierce County moved for summary judgment, asserting that the professional rescue doctrine bars Beaupre’s suit. Continue reading →

Docket No. 79971-7  Facts:

Petitioner Melanie Morin brought suit against respondent employer Clarence Harrell for unpaid overtime wages. Harrell challenged the constitutionality of Initiative 518 enacted in 1988 that amended the Minimum Wage Act, Wash. Rev. Code §49.46, by replacing the exemption for domestic service providers with an exemption limited to individuals employed in casual labor. Continue reading →

Docket No. 79432-4 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 34282-1)  Facts:  Respondent Yulanda Leach pleaded guilty to attempted assault of a child in the second degree, and was sentenced to 23.25 months confinement and between nine and 18 months community custody. The Department of Corrections petitioned for post-sentence review on the community custody component of the sentence, Continue reading →

Docket No. 78628-3 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 31636-6)  Facts;  Petitioner Douglas Tobin was convicted of illegally harvesting crab and geoduck in the Superior Court for Pierce County and was ordered to pay $1,735,596 in restitution to the state of Washington.  Tobin appealed the restitution order, asserting that the environmental, investigative, and administrative costs included in the restitution award were insufficiently related to his crimes.  The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed the restitution order. Continue reading →

Docket No. 79951-2  Facts:  Petitioner James Densley, a retired Pierce County prosecuting attorney enrolled in the Washington Public Employee Retirement System, requested retirement service credit for summer training exercises and weekend drills he participated in as a member of the Washington Army National Guard.  The respondent Department of Retirement Systems denied Densley’s request, ruling that Washington Revised Code §41.40.170(3), which grants public employees retirement service credit for military service, applies only to active military service. Continue reading →

Docket No. 79875-3  Facts:  Respondent Steven Sarich and his wife Kay took out a loan with Washington Mutual Bank secured with a deed of trust on their home.  Sarich subsequently took out two additional loans with U.S. Bank that used the same home as security.  After Sarich defaulted, Washington Mutual Bank, as the senior lienholder, foreclosed on the home, which was sold at a trustee’s sale.  Following the sale, petitioner Beal Bank, S.S.B., to which U.S. Bank had assigned both loans, petitioned the Superior Court for King County for a judgment against Sarich for the amount of both outstanding loans.  The superior court granted summary judgment for Sarich, ruling that, under Washington Revised Code §61.24.100, the foreclosure of a senior lienholder’s deed of trust precludes an action by a junior lienholder to recover on a debt secured by a deed of trust on the same property. Continue reading →