Docket No. 84856-4 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 38034-0)  Synopsis: Whether the California crime of second degree robbery is legally comparable to the Washington crime of second degree robbery, qualifying it as most serious offense for persistent offender purposes. Continue reading →

Docket No. 84632-4 (from Franklin Case No. 09-2-51185-6)  Facts:  Easterday Ranches, Inc., in anticipation of opening a cattle feedlot on property that it owns in Franklin County, drilled a well on the property in order to provide the anticipated 450,000 to 600,000 daily gallons of water needed to operate the feedlot.  Petitioner Five Corners Family Farmers, the owner of a nearby property, subsequently petitioned the Superior Court for Thurston County for a declaratory judgment that Washington Revised Code §90.44.050, which exempts the withdrawal of public groundwater for stock-watering purposes from permit requirements, limits such withdrawals to 5,000 gallons per day.  The superior court ruled that §90.44.050 permits the unlimited withdrawal of public groundwater for stock-watering purposes. Continue reading →

Docket No. 83660-4 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 36944-3)  Synopsis: Whether, in an action arising out of the sale of a home, the economic loss rule bars a claim for damages for fraudulent concealment, bars the remedy of rescission of the sales contract for negligent misrepresentation, and bars an action against the buyers’ realtor for breach of common law and statutory duties. Continue reading →