Temple of Justice

State v. Stubbs

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether a defendant convicted of first degree assault based on the infliction of “great bodily harm” was properly given an exceptional sentence based on the infliction of injuries that “substantially exceed the level of bodily harm necessary to satisfy the elements of the offense.” See RCW 9.94A.535(3)(y).

State v. Nason

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether the trial court violated an offender’s due process rights when it ordered him to report to jail and serve a period of incarceration if he failed to pay his legal financial obligations by a certain future date.

Yakima County v. The Yakima Herald Republic

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether a superior court is an “agency” subject to the disclosure requirements of the Public Records Act, chapter 42.56 RCW.

State v. Ibarra-Cizneros

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether, in a prosecution for possession of cocaine, drugs found near the defendant during an encounter with police should have been suppressed because the police arranged the meeting using an illegally seized cell phone.

State v. Vance

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S. Ct. 2531, 159 L. Ed. 2d 403 (2004), requires a jury to find aggravating factors supporting an exceptional sentence consisting of consecutive standard range prison terms. See Oregon v. Ice, __ U.S. __, 129 S. Ct. 711, 172 L. Ed. 2d 517 (2009).

In re Pers. Restraint of Cruze v. State

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether a finding in a prior criminal conviction that the defendant was armed with a “firearm” rendered the conviction a “most serious offense” under the Persistent Offender Accountability Act, which makes any felony a “most serious offense” if it was accompanied by a “deadly weapon” verdict. See former RCW 9.94A.030(23) (1996).

Waples v. Lakewood Dental Clinic

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether RCW 7.70.100(1), which requires medical malpractice plaintiffs to notify the defendant of the claim 90 days before filing suit, violates equal protection principles.

State v. Nonog

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether an information that charged the offense of interfering with the reporting of domestic violence without specifying the predicate domestic violence crime was constitutionally sufficient if the predicate crime could be derived from other counts charged in the information.

State v. Bunker

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:15:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether under former RCW 26.50.110 (2006), violation of a domestic violence no-contact order constituted a criminal offense only if the violation was one for which arrest was required under RCW 10.31.100(a) or (b).

City of Port Angeles v. Our Water-Our Choice

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether proposed local initiatives seeking to prohibit the city of Port Angeles from adding fluoride to its public water system are within the local initiative power.

State v. Adams

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether police lawfully searched a car incident to the driver’s arrest when the arrest took place after the driver got out of the car and locked it.

McGuire v. Bates

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether an offer by a defendant to settle “all claims” in a minor action for damages included attorney fees, thus precluding the plaintiff who accepted the offer from seeking additional sums as attorney fees when the settlement was reduced to judgment, and if not, whether the plaintiff was a “prevailing party” entitled to attorney fees.

City of Aberdeen v. Regan

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether acquittal of an offender on a criminal charge stemming from conduct committed while on probation precludes a court from subsequently finding that the same conduct constituted a “criminal violation” justifying the revocation of probation.

Broom v. Morgan Stanley DW Inc.

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether the superior court may vacate a private arbitration award for legal error appearing on the face of the award, and if so, whether the arbitration panel in this case committed facial error in dismissing claims under the statute of limitations.

State v. Jones

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether the rape shield statute precluded the defendant in a rape prosecution from testifying that the complaining witness had consensual sex with two other men at the same party where she was allegedly raped.

State v. Hall

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether several telephone calls to a witness allegedly asking her to absent herself from a pending criminal trial or to testify falsely constituted a single unit of prosecution of the crime of witness tampering, rendering the defendant’s multiple convictions for that crime contrary to double jeopardy principles.

State v. Osman

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether a district court decision on whether a significant or material portion of the electronic record of a district court trial has been lost or damaged, thus entitling an appellant to a new trial pursuant to RALJ 5.4, is reviewed by the superior court de novo or only for abuse of discretion.

Hudson v. Hapner

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether a personal injury defendant who requested a trial de novo following arbitration, failed to improve his position at trial, and successfully appealed the trial court judgment, could withdraw his request for trial de novo before a second trial and have judgment entered on the arbitration award.

State v. Peterson

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether the former sex offender registration statute established alternative means of committing the crime of failure to report to the county sheriff by specifying different reporting time lines for change of residence within a county, change of residence to a different county, and ceasing to have a fixed residence. See former RCW 9A.44.130 (2004).

Segaline v. Dep’t of Labor & Indus.

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether RCW 4.24.510, which protects any “person” from civil liability for communicating a complaint to a government agency on a matter of concern to that agency, immunizes the Department of Labor and Industries from liability for reporting to police the plaintiff’s claimed violation of a no trespass order.

State v. Turner

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether a trial court violates double jeopardy principles when it merges or dismisses one of two criminal convictions on double jeopardy grounds with the condition that the conviction may be reinstated if the companion conviction is reversed or vacated.

Decision Statistics for 2009

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:51:00 +0000

Since our website is built from a database of Washington Supreme Court cases, we can easily generate a variety of reports. For example, we recently published a set of 2009 Decision Data, including a new thumbnail view of 2009 Decision Data by Vote. More reporting options will be coming later this year.

Winter 2010 Docket Updates

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:19:00 +0000

Our complete list of Upcoming Arguments includes the following recent changes to the Court’s docket:

In re Shange Holden Petrini, Attorney at Law (#200,754-6, added December 28, 2009) is no longer scheduled for January 28, 2010 at 1pm (removed January 22, 2010).

State v. Sandoval (#82175-5, removed January 11, 2010) will not be argued on January 21, 2010. As a result, State v. Turner (#81626-3) will be argued at 9am instead of 10am, Segaline v. Washington Dept. of Labor and Industries (#81931-9) will be argued at 10am instead of 1:30pm, and State v. Peterson (#82089-9) will be argued at 1:30pm instead of 2:30pm. In re J. David Smith, Attorney at Law (#200,750-3) has also been removed from the docket.

State v. Bunker (#81921-1, rescheduled January 12, 2010) will be argued on February 23, 2010 at 1:15pm instead of 1:30pm.

Honorable Richard B. Sanders v. State of Washington (#82849-1, rescheduled January 13, 2010) will be argued on March 31, 2010 at 9:00am instead of January 28, 2010. As a result, Broom v. Morgan Stanley DW Inc. (#82311-1) will be argued at 9am instead of 10am, and City of Aberdeen v. Regan (#82476-2) will be argued at 10am instead of 2:30pm.

In re Douglas Paul Ferrer, Attorney at Law (#200,758-9, added January 14, 2010) will be argued on February 25, 2010 at 1pm.

Skinner v. Civil Serv. Comm’n of City of Medina

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether the 30-day period for appealing a city civil service commission’s decision upholding a police officer’s termination was tolled pending the officer’s motion for reconsideration of the commission’s decision, and whether the officer properly served the commission with his notice of appeal by leaving a copy with the city clerk.

In re Marriage of Freeman

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether the trial court should have granted a petition to terminate an eight-year-old domestic violence protection order that prevented the petitioner from obtaining a security clearance necessary to transfer to a different job within the military.

Kelley v. Centennial Contractors

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether it was infeasible to join a loss of parental consortium action with the parents’ earlier personal injury action because the children were not then represented by a guardian ad litem, thus allowing the children’s action to proceed independently of the parents’ action.

Bellevue School District v. E.S.

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether a juvenile has a constitutional right to appointed counsel at the initial hearing on a truancy petition filed under chapter 28.225 RCW.

State v. Harvill

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether in a criminal prosecution the trial court erred in failing to give the defendant’s requested duress instruction, and if so, whether the error was automatically reversible.

State v. Schultz

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether police officers’ warrantless entry into an apartment to investigate a domestic violence call was justified by the emergency exception to the warrant requirement.

South Tacoma Way, LLC v. State

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether the Department of Transportation’s sale of surplus property was ultra vires and void for failure to provide statutorily required notice of the proposed sale to all abutting property owners, and if so, whether the buyer’s deed is nonetheless valid because the buyer was a bona fide purchaser.

In re The Honorable Judith Raub Eiler

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Does a judge violate the Code of Judicial Conduct by repeatedly demonstrating rude, demeaning, and condescending conduct/demeanor on the bench, and if so, what sanction is merited?

State v. Afana

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether police unlawfully seized the occupant of a car parked in a public place by requesting her identification, and whether police unlawfully searched the car incident to the occupant’s arrest.

Proctor v. Huntington

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:30:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether, in an action to eject an adjoining landowner who mistakenly built improvements on the plaintiff’s property, the trial court properly quieted title in the adjoining landowner and ordered him to pay the plaintiff for a boundary adjustment.

Lummi Indian Nation v. State

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether amendments to chapter 90.03 RCW modifying the definition of “municipal water supplier” and providing that any party meeting the amended definition had a retroactive right to any water right based on the “pumps and pipes” measure violates the separation of powers doctrine and due process principles.

Cudney v. Alsco, Inc.

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Synopsis: Whether the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (particularly RCW 49.17.160 and accompanying regulations) or the statutes prohibiting drunk driving (particularly RCW 9.91.020, RCW 46.61.502, and RCW 46.61.504) adequately promote the public policy of protecting the public from drunk drivers so as to preclude an action by a terminated employee for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy based on a claim that the employee was discharged after reporting a management employee who drove a company vehicle while intoxicated.

Inauguration of Chief Justice Madsen

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Justice Barbara Madsen was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, becoming the state’s 55th Chief Justice, as well as the 2nd woman, to hold the position. The Washington Courts announcement is here, and you can watch TVW’s coverage of the event below.

Limits on Recovery For Injury

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:45:00 +0000

Mr. Mike Madden, Esq., discusses Sofie v. Fireboard Corp. Justice Robert Utter (retired), the author of the opinion, provides closing remarks.

Searching and Seizing in the Dorm

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:20:00 +0000

Mr. Ron Carpenter, Esq., Washington Supreme Court Clerk, discusses:

State v. Chrisman, 94 Wn.2d 711 (1980)
Washington v. Chrisman, 455 U.S. 1 (1982)
State v. Chrisman, 100 Wn.2d 814 (1984)

When To Apply The State Constitution

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Justice Charles Johnson discusses State v. Gunwall.

The School Funding Case

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:15:00 +0000

Judge Robert J. Doran (retired) discusses Seattle School District No. 1 v. State.

Girls of the Gridiron—Washington’s Equal Rights Amendment

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:50:00 +0000

Justice Debra Stephens discusses Darrin v. Gould.

Presentation by Mr. Egil Krogh

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Mr. Egil Krogh, Senior Fellow on Leadership, Ethics, and Integrity, Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress discusses lessons learned during his time in the Nixon administration.

Protecting The Environment

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Mr. Charles B. Roe, Esq., discusses Wilbour v. Gallagher.

The Case of the Golden Apples

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Mr. Robert Henry, Esq., discusses Thorndike v. Hesperian Orchards, Inc., Washington’s most cited case.

Love (Not) Marriage–Sixty Years of Committed Intimate Relationships

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Ms. Catherine Smith, Esq., discusses Creasman v. Boyle and related cases.

Washington’s “Switch in Time Saves Nine” Case

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:10:00 +0000

Chief Justice Gerry Alexander discusses Parrish v. West Coast Hotel Co.

No Income Tax Now

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Mr. Geoff Crooks, Esq., retired Court Commissioner, Washington Supreme Court, discusses Culliton v. Chase.

The Industrial Workers of the World: Wobblies, Murder and Massacre

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Mr. Charles Wiggins, Esq., discusses State v. Smith.

In the Beginning (The Territorial Court)

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerry Alexander discusses Washington’s Territorial Court (1853-1889).

Through The Years—Important Washington Cases and Their Enduring Significance

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0000

The Washington Courts Historical Society’s CLE program for 2009, “Through The Years—Important Washington Cases and Their Enduring Significance,” was held on November 20, 2009 at the Temple of Justice. Complete video/audio coverage was provided by TVW.

All the presentations are listed on the Historical Society page, under the WCHS 2009 category.

Click any title in the list, starting with “In the Beginning (The Territorial Court),” to watch the presentation.