Docket No. 82029-5  Facts: Petitioner Richard Mutch was convicted of five counts of second degree rape and one count of second degree kidnapping in the Superior Court for Whatcom County and sentenced to life imprisonment as a persistent offender.  Upon appeal, Mutch’s sentence was vacated on grounds that one of his prior convictions was not a “strike” for purposes of deeming him a persistent offender.  The trial court subsequently resentenced Mutch to an exceptional sentence, Continue reading →

Docket No. 83349-4  Facts: Petitioner Kemper Freeman filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Washington seeking a writ of mandamus barring respondent Governor Christine Gregoire from taking any action pursuant to the authorization in the state of Washington’s biennial transportation budget for a valuation of the center lanes of Interstate 90 between Seattle and Bellevue pursuant to the Sound Transit 2 Regional Transit System Plan’s proposal for the eventual conversion of these lanes to a light rail line. Continue reading →

Docket No. 83579-9  Facts: Seeking a refund of state business and occupation taxes that it had paid under protest, petitioner Lamtec Corporation filed suit against the respondent Department of Revenue in the Superior Court for Thurston County. Continue reading →