Docket No. 86399-7 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 29056-5)
Synopsis: Whether the warrantless search of a car occupant’s purse incident to the occupant’s arrest outside the car is unlawful under Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 129 S. Ct. 1710, 173 L. Ed. 2d 435 (2009).
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National Surety Corp. v. Immunex Corp.
Docket No. 86535-3 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 64712-1)
Synopsis: Whether an insurer may be required to reimburse its insured for defense expenditures incurred from the date that a complaint was filed against the insured until entry of a declaratory judgment that the insurer had no duty to defend the suit.
Synopsis: Whether an insurer may be required to reimburse its insured for defense expenditures incurred from the date that a complaint was filed against the insured until entry of a declaratory judgment that the insurer had no duty to defend the suit.
Cregan v. Fourth Memorial Church
Docket No. 86835-2 (from Spokane Case No. 10-2-00572-7)
Synopsis: Whether the recreational use immunity statute, RCW 4.24.200-210, which protects landowners from tort liability if they allow free public use of their land for recreational purposes, applies to a private camp that ordinarily charges a fee for use but in this instance allowed a group to use the facility for free.
Synopsis: Whether the recreational use immunity statute, RCW 4.24.200-210, which protects landowners from tort liability if they allow free public use of their land for recreational purposes, applies to a private camp that ordinarily charges a fee for use but in this instance allowed a group to use the facility for free.
State v. Tarhan
Docket No. 85737-7 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 62872-1)
Synopsis: Whether sealing juror questionnaires following jury selection without conducting the analysis required by State v. Bone-Club, 128 Wn.2d 254, 906 P.2d 325 (1995), constitutes structural error requiring reversal of a criminal conviction.
Synopsis: Whether sealing juror questionnaires following jury selection without conducting the analysis required by State v. Bone-Club, 128 Wn.2d 254, 906 P.2d 325 (1995), constitutes structural error requiring reversal of a criminal conviction.
Lowy v. PeaceHealth
Docket No. 85697-4 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 63866-1)
Synopsis: Whether RCW 70.41.200 prohibits the trial court in a medical malpractice action from issuing a discovery order requiring a hospital to search incident reports in its quality assurance database for the purpose of identifying specific patients and providing those patients medical files to the plaintiff.
Synopsis: Whether RCW 70.41.200 prohibits the trial court in a medical malpractice action from issuing a discovery order requiring a hospital to search incident reports in its quality assurance database for the purpose of identifying specific patients and providing those patients medical files to the plaintiff.
Stafne v. Snohomish County
Docket No. 84894-7 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 62843-7) Facts: Respondent Scott Stafne petitioned the Snohomish County Council for a redesignation of forest land that he had recently acquired. After the council declined to act on Stafne’s request, Stafne filed a Land Use Petition Act (Washington Revised Code §36.70C) petition in the Superior Court for Skagit County. The superior court denied the petition, ruling that the decision to amend a comprehensive plan is a legislative act that cannot be compelled by a court and that a petitioner alleging non-compliance with the Growth Management Act (Washington Revised Code §36.70A) must exhaust their administrative remedies by seeking review with their local growth management hearing board before seeking judicial review. Upon appeal, the Washington Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that Stafne’s petition was untimely but that Stafne was not required to exhaust his administrative remedies by seeking review with his local growth management hearing board because such review would have been futile. Continue reading
State v. Sublett
Docket No. 84856-4 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 38034-0) Synopsis: Whether the California crime of second degree robbery is legally comparable to the Washington crime of second degree robbery, qualifying it as most serious offense for persistent offender purposes. Continue reading
State v. Paumier
Docket No. 84585-9 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 36346-1) Synopsis: Whether, in light of Presley v. Georgia, 130 S.Ct. 721 (2010), a trial court violated a criminal defendant’s right to a public trial by interviewing prospective jurors individually in chambers. Continue reading
State v. Wise
Docket No. 82802-4 (from Court of Appeals Division II Case No. 36625-8) Synopsis: Whether the trial court in a criminal prosecution violated the constitutional right to a public trial when it conducted a portion of jury voir dire in chambers without conducting a preclosure analysis under State v. Bone-Club, 128 Wn.2d 254, 906 P.2d 325 (1995), and without considering alternatives to in-chambers questioning. Continue reading
In re personal restraint of Nichols
Docket No. 83742-2 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 59750-7) Facts: Petitioner Glenn Nichols was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and possession of marijuana in the Superior Court for King County after a hotel desk clerk identified Nichols to police officers as the occupant of a hotel room in which a cocaine purchase had occurred, the officers discovered that Nichols’ driver’s license was suspended, and the officers proceeded to arrest Nichols for driving with a suspended driver’s license and discovered cocaine and marijuana in a search of Nichols’ person incident to the arrest. Continue reading