Docket No. 200,761-9  Facts: Following petitioner Paul King’s conviction for mail fraud, the respondent Washington State Bar Association’s disciplinary board commenced proceedings against him and recommended his disbarment following a hearing. Continue reading →

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  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  Synopsis: Whether a criminal judgment and sentence is invalid on its face, and thus may be challenged beyond the one-year time limit on collateral attack, when the judgment and sentence states that the jury found that the defendant was armed with a firearm, and the judgment imposes a firearm sentence enhancement, but the jury in its special verdict form found only that the defendant was armed with a deadly weapon. 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  Synopsis: Whether an indemnification agreement requiring indemnification unless the indemnitee was solely liable applies to accident in which the indemnitee was partially at fault and the indemnitor was fault free. Continue reading →

Docket No. 83779-1  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 →