Docket No. 84704-5  Facts:  Seeking to condemn an easement for the installation and maintenance of a power line over public lands, Public Utility District #1 of Okanogan County filed an action against Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark in the Superior Court for Okanogan County.  The superior court granted summary judgment for Public Utility District #1.  Although Goldmark wished to appeal the superior court’s decision, Attorney General Robert McKenna, based upon his evaluation of the merits of the case, refused to pursue the case.  Goldmark subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court of Washington for a writ of mandamus compelling McKenna to appeal the superior court’s decision. Continue reading →

Docket No. 84483-6  Facts:  Following the enaction of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Attorney General Robert McKenna and the attorneys general of twelve other states jointly filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the law.  The city of Seattle subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court of Washington for a writ of mandamus compelling McKenna to withdraw the state of Washington from the litigation. Continue reading →

Docket No. 83745-7 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 36751-3)  Facts:  Respondent Z.D.I. Gaming, Inc. filed an application with the petitioner Washington State Gambling Commission requesting permission to distribute a new type of electronic gaming machine that it had developed.  After the Washington State Gambling Commission denied the application on grounds that the machine’s use of a “cash card” violates Washington Administrative Code §230-30-070’s requirement that all prizes be awarded in either cash or merchandise, Z.D.I. Gaming petitioned the Superior Court for Pierce County for judicial review.  The Washington State Gambling Commission moved for dismissal, asserting that Washington Revised Code §9.46.095 confers exclusive subject matter jurisdiction over cases in which the Washington State Gambling Commission is a party upon the Superior Court for Thurston County.  The superior court denied the motion to dismiss but transferred the case to the Superior Court for Thurston County, which reversed the Washington State Gambling Commission’s denial of Z.D.I. Gaming’s application. Continue reading →

Docket No. 82951-9 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 34686-9)  Facts:  Respondent Joshua Scott was convicted of first degree robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm, and possession of stolen property.  On the basis of the jury’s finding by special verdict that Scott was armed with a deadly weapon during the commission of these crimes, a firearm enhancement was added to Scott’s sentence.  Following the Supreme Court of Washington’s subsequent decision in Washington v. Recuenco that the erroneous imposition of a firearm enhancement on the basis of a deadly weapon special verdict is not subject to harmless error analysis, Scott filed an untimely personal restraint petition that asserted that his sentence is invalid on its face.  The Washington Court of Appeals vacated Scott’s sentence, holding that Scott’s sentence is invalid on its face under Recuenco because it did not mirror the special verdict form and because of the lack of a written finding that Scott was armed. Continue reading →

Docket No. 82374-0  Facts:  Petitioner Kim Koenig filed a public records request pursuant to the Public Records Act (Washington Revised Code §42.56) for records relating to the Puyallup Police Department’s investigation of her allegation that an officer of the Bainbridge Island Police Department sexually assaulted her, an investigation that resulted in no charges being filed.  The respondent Bainbridge Island Police Guild subsequently petitioned the Superior Court for Pierce County to enjoin the Puyallup Police Department from producing the records, asserting that they were exempt from production under §42.56.230(2)’s personal information exemption insofar as the request was specific to records relating to the investigation of Koenig’s allegation against the officer and that production, even if the officer’s name were redacted, would indirectly reveal his identity in relation to the incident in violation of his right to privacy. Continue reading →

Docket No. 83795-3 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 62269-2)  Facts:  The petitioner Snohomish County Public Transportation Benefit Area Corporation, doing business as Community Transit, entered into a contract with respondent FirstGroup America, Inc., doing business as First Transit, under which First Transit agreed to provide bus services between Snohomish County and parts of King County for Community Transit.  The contract included an indemnity provision requiring that First Transit indemnify Community Transit for any losses occasioned in whole or in part by the presence of First Transit buses except for those resulting solely from the negligence of Community Transit.  Following a multiple vehicle accident involving a Community Transit bus, a First Transit bus, and two other automobiles that was caused by the shared negligence of the driver of the Community Transit bus and the driver of one of the other automobiles, Community Transit tendered a claim of indemnification to First Transit.  After First Transit refused to indemnify Community Transit, Community Transit settled the claims against it by the drivers of the other automobiles and filed suit against First Transit in the Superior Court for Snohomish County, asserting that First Transit had breached the contract. Continue reading →

Docket No. 83779-1 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 37773-0)  Facts: Petitioner Jack Sims pled guilty to child molestation in the Superior Court for Cowlitz County and, pursuant to a special sex offender sentencing alternative, was sentenced to a suspended sixty month sentence contingent upon compliance with crime-related prohibitions that included an order that Sims neither reside in nor enter Cowlitz County. Continue reading →

Docket No. 83645-1  Facts: Judge James Cayce of the Superior Court for King County presided over the taking of a deposition from a witness in a criminal trial in an empty courtroom.  In response to a motion by defense counsel, Cayce agreed to close the courtroom to non-parties.  Tacoma News, Inc., whose representatives had attempted to enter the courtroom during the deposition but were refused entry, subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court of Washington for a writ of mandamus compelling Cayce to open the deposition to the public, asserting that closing the taking of the deposition had violated both Article I §10 of the Washington State Constitution’s guarantee of the open administration of justice and the 1^st Amendment to the United States Constitution’s implicit guarantee of public access to criminal trials. Continue reading →