Docket No. 77507-9 Facts: Petitioner Kim Mason was convicted in the Superior Court for King County of murdering a man who had previously accused him of kidnapping and attempted murder in order to eliminate him as a witness. During his trial testimony was heard from witnesses who recounted statements the victim had made regarding seeking a protective order against Mason prior to his murder. Continue reading
Category Archives: Landmark Cases
Washington v. Kirkman
Docket No. 76833-1; 77596-6 Facts: Respondent Charles Kirkman was convicted of first degree rape in the Superior Court for Clark County after a police officer and medical expert had testified during his trial that the alleged victim’s statements to police were clear and consistent. Kirkman appealed his conviction to the Washington Court of Appeals, which reversed the conviction on grounds that these statements were conclusory and violated the exclusive right of the jury to determine guilt. Continue reading
Washington v. Hughes
Docket No. 74147-6; 75053-0; 75063-7 Facts: Petitioner Daniel Hughes was convicted in the Superior Court for Grays Harbor County of first degree theft for cutting down old growth cedar trees. Pursuant to Washington’s Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (§9.94A.535), an enhanced sentence of 90 months imprisonment was imposed rather than the standard 3 to 9 months imprisonment due to the presence of substantial and compelling factors that distinguished the crime from other first degree thefts. Continue reading
Washington v. Lorenz
Docket No. 74061-5 Facts: Petitioner Pamela Jean Lorenz was convicted in the Superior Court for King County of rape, child molestation, and child exploitation. Lorenz subsequently appealed her conviction, asserting that the trial court erred in failing to include sexual gratification as an element of the crime of first-degree child molestation in its instructions to the jury and in admitting Lorenz’s written statement to police into evidence. Continue reading
Riehl v. Foodmaker, Inc.
Docket No. 73902-1 Facts: Petitioner Mark Riehl, who suffered from depression, filed suit in the Superior Court for King County against his former employer, respondent Foodmaker, alleging a lack of accommodation during his employment and disparate treatment in his firing and denial of consideration for rehiring in violation of the Washington Law Against Discrimination (§49.60.180). The trial court granted Foodmaker summary judgment on both claims. Continue reading
Washington v. Gaddy
Docket No. 73719-3 Facts: Petitioner Juliet Gaddy was charged with possession of a controlled substance after a search of her car performed by police incident to arresting her for driving with a suspended driver’s license revealed cocaine. During her trial, Gaddy sought to have all evidence obtained from the search suppressed, alleging that the mobile data terminal used to ascertain that her driver’s license was suspended by the officers who had initially stopped her for failing to signal while making a turn was insufficiently reliable to provide probable cause for the arrest and search that followed (as she alleged that her driver’s license was in fact valid). Continue reading
Washington v. Roggenkamp
Docket No. 73839-4; 74231-6 Facts: Petitioner Michael Roggenkamp was convicted in the King County Juvenile Court of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault after causing a fatal traffic accident while driving in excess of twice the legal speed limit. The charges were premised upon the trial court’s construction of language in the vehicular homicide and vehicular assault statutes (§46.61.522(1) and §46.61.520(1)) regarding operation of a vehicle “in a reckless manner” as meaning “driving in a rash or heedless manner, indifferent to the consequences.” Roggenkamp appealed his conviction to the Washington Court of Appeals, asserting that the proper standard to apply in determining whether his conduct fell within the meaning of the statutes was to ask whether it involved “willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property”. Continue reading
Washington v. Varga
Docket No. 74375-4 Facts: Petitioner Leslie Varga was convicted of second degree theft and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle. At sentencing, the trial judge took into account Varga’s “washed out” juvenile convictions in determining his offender score pursuant to the 2002 amendments to the Washington Sentencing Reform Act of 1981 (§9.94A.525 and 9.94A.030). Continue reading
Washington v. DeVincentis
Docket No. 72819-4 Facts: Petitioner Louis DeVincentis was convicted in the Superior Court for King County of rape and child molestation after evidence had been introduced at his trial of previous convictions in New York predicated upon substantially similar behavior that demonstrated a common scheme or plan. DeVincentis appealed his conviction to the Washington Court of Appeals, asserting that although his previous behavior was similar to the crime with which he had been charged, it was not unique or uncommon and therefore not admissible. Continue reading
Redmond v. Moore
Docket No. 72614-1 Facts: Respondent Dean Moore’s driver’s license was automatically suspended pursuant to §46.20.289 and §46.20.324 after he failed to appear, pay, or comply with a citation for speeding. Moore was subsequently cited for driving with a suspended driver’s license, leading him to file a motion to dismiss the citation in district court. Continue reading