Docket No. 85408-4 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 39333-6) Facts: Respondent Michael Gendler was seriously injured while riding his bicycle across Seattle’s Montlake Bridge when the bicycle’s front wheel was suddenly caught in a seam on the bridge’s deck grating, throwing Gendler off of the bicycle and onto the roadway. After learning that several other bicyclists had been injured in similar accidents on the same bridge, Gendler submitted a public records request to the Washington State Patrol for copies of police reports on all accidents on Montlake Bridge involving bicycles. The Washington State Patrol conditioned release of the reports upon Gendler signing a certification that he would not use the records in a lawsuit against the state of Washington or any of its agencies. Asserting that this requirement violates the Public Records Act (Washington Revised Code §42.56), Gendler subsequently filed suit against petitioner John Batiste, the chief of the Washington State Patrol, in the Superior Court for Thurston County. Continue reading
Docket No. 84108-0 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 27184-6) Facts: Suspecting illegal nepotism in respondent Spokane County’s hiring practices, the petitioner Neighborhood Alliance of Spokane County submitted a request for public records to the county pursuant to the Public Records Act (Washington Revised Code §42.56). After the county responded to the request by providing the Neighborhood Alliance with one document that was not the original version of the requested record and by claiming that the other requested record does not exist, the Neighborhood Alliance filed suit against the county in the Superior Court for Lincoln County. 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. 83645-1 Facts: Judge James Cayce of the Superior Court for King County presided over the taking of a deposition from a witness in a criminal trial in an empty courtroom. In response to a motion by defense counsel, Cayce agreed to close the courtroom to non-parties. Tacoma News, Inc., whose representatives had attempted to enter the courtroom during the deposition but were refused entry, subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court of Washington for a writ of mandamus compelling Cayce to open the deposition to the public, asserting that closing the taking of the deposition had violated both Article I §10 of the Washington State Constitution’s guarantee of the open administration of justice and the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution’s implicit guarantee of public access to criminal trials. Continue reading