Facts: Petitioner Marilea Mitchell was convicted of criminal mistreatment in the Superior Court for Snohomish County after allowing a child in her care to become severely malnourished. Mitchell subsequently appealed her conviction, asserting that while she had been charged with violating provisions of Washington Revised Code §9A.42.020(1) criminalizing the mistreatment of “dependent persons” by those who have assumed responsibility for providing them with the basic necessities of life, these provisions do not apply to the mistreatment of children. The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Mitchell’s conviction. Mitchell appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s): Are dependent persons and children mutually exclusive classes for purposes of §9A.42.020(1)?

Conclusion: Justice Sanders’ opinion for a unanimous Court affirmed the decision of the Washington Court of Appeals, holding that although §9A.42.020(1) contains separate references to both dependent persons and children, the two classes are not mutually exclusive as the term dependent persons refers in the context of the statute to persons with disabilities and children may therefore also be dependent persons as to hold otherwise would, contrary to the intent of the legislature, exclude the mistreatment of disabled children.

Docket No. 83169-6 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 61462-2)

Petitioner: Marilea Mitchell

(Counsel: Sarah McNeel Hrobsky)

Respondent: State of Washington

(Counsel: Seth Aaron Fine and Mary Kathleen Webber)

Briefs:

Argument: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 9:00am

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Prevailing Party: State of Washington (Respondent)

Vote: 9-0

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen1 Court (2010-)

Madsen

Johnson

Alexander

Sanders
(Majority)

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson

Stephens