Justia Washington Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

A Seattle street performer's camera caught the shooting death of Franciso Green on tape. Police received several other eyewitness accounts of the shooting and arrested Petitioner Kevin Monday, Jr. in connection with the murder. A jury later found Petitioner guilty of first degree murder and two counts of assault. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Petitioner argued that prosecutorial misconduct and the imposition of firearms enhancements in the jury instructions at trial deprived him of a fair trial. Upon review of the trial record, the Supreme Court found that the prosecutor "injected racial prejudice into the trial proceedings" by asserting certain witnesses were unreliable and using derogatory language to characterize others. The Court reasoned that these statements "fatally tainted" the jury because it "planted the seed in the jury's mind that most of the witnesses were, at best, shading the truth to benefit [Petitioner]. Under the circumstances, we cannot say that the misconduct did not affect the jury's verdict." The Court did not reach Petitioner's "firearms enhancement" argument because it determined he was entitled to a new trial. The Court reversed the trial court's decision and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Washington v. Monday" on Justia Law

Appellant Richard Mutch appealed his sentence of 400 months' imprisonment on rape and kidnapping charges. After his life sentence was vacated several years after his conviction, the trial court imposed an "exceptional" sentence of 400 months at re-sentencing. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Appellant challenged the trial court's authority to impose such a sentence. In particular, Appellant argued that the trial court miscalculated his "offender score," and because of the miscalculation, his 400-month sentence should be invalidated. Upon careful consideration of the trial record and the applicable legal authority, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's sentence. The Court found that Washington law gives trial courts the authority to impose "exceptional" sentences, and that the court did not miscalculate Appellant's "offender score." Accordingly the Court affirmed Appellant's sentence. View "Washington v. Mutch" on Justia Law

Petitioner and Washington resident Delbert Williams was employed by an Idaho employment agency. The agency regularly sent him to work for Pro-Set Erectors, an Idaho construction subcontractor. In 2007, Pro-Set was hired by Respondent Leone & Keeble (L&K), a general contractor. L&K is a Washington company. Later that year, Petitioner was injured on the job. He filed a claim with the Idaho State Insurance Fund, who accepted his claim and issued workers' compensation payments. In late 2008, the payments stopped. Petitioner filed suit against L&K in Washington, but the trial court dismissed his petition citing lack of jurisdiction over Petitioner's Idaho workers' compensation claim. Upon review of the applicable legal authority, the Supreme Court found that the trial court did have jurisdiction over Petitioner's claim: "our courts below...seem to have given deference to opinions of the Idaho courts" instead of applying Washington law. L&K argued that because Petitioner received benefits from Idaho, he was barred from bringing the same claim in Washington. Petitioner's claim was allowed under the Washington Industrial Insurance Act, which fell under the jurisdiction of Washington courts. The Court reversed the decision of the lower courts and remanded Petitioner's case for further proceedings. View "Williams v. Leone & Keeble, Inc." on Justia Law

K.N.J. was born in 2005 to Marquesha Everett and Petitioner Michael Jenkins. K.N.J. suffered extreme abuse at the hands of her mother. After discovery of the abuse, K.N.J. was removed from her mother's care and placed in foster care. Petitioner was served with a summons and petition for a dependency hearing. A judge pro tempore presided over the initial hearing. The mother consented to the judge's hearing the case. Petitioner did not appear and was not represented by counsel. The judge pro tempore entered a default order of dependency despite her status and Petitioner's lack of consent. Subsequent hearings were held, and an elected judge presided over them. Petitioner did not appear until the permanency planning hearing. Petitioner moved to dismiss the case, asserting that the original dependency order was void because Petitioner did not consent to a judge pro tempore. The trial court denied Petitioner's motion to dismiss and terminated his parental rights. Petitioner appealed the termination to the Supreme Court. The Court found that K.N.J.'s dependency was amply proved at the termination trial where Petitioner was present and represented by counsel. Furthermore the trial court's findings supported the termination of Petitioner's parental rights. The Court affirmed the decisions of the lower court.

There was a catastrophic failure at the Spokane waste water treatment plant. One man was killed, and two others were severely injured. The survivors, including Respondent Larry Michaels, successfully sued Appellant CH2M Hill, the engineering firm that worked for the city at the time of the accident. The City of Spokane, as employer of Respondents, was immune from liability under the Industrial Insurance Act. All parties agreed that the City was negligent. The issue at trial was whether CH2M Hill was also negligent. On appeal to the Supreme Court, CH2M Hill challenged the trial judge's rulings on its liability as well as twenty-six other findings of fact. Of importance here was whether the City's immunity could be imputed to CH2M Hill under the same insurance act. The Supreme Court dissected all twenty-six points in its review, and concluded that CH2M Hill was not entitled to the same immunity as the City. The Court agreed with all rulings of the trial court. The Court affirmed the trial court's decision in the case.

Samantha A. is a 15-year-old with a wide range of medical maladies. Samantha is unable to perform a many activities necessary for independent living. The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) determined that Samantha is eligible for 24-hour institutional care because of the extreme nature of her needs. Because Samantha is cared for by a single mother, Samantha qualified for the Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver Program so that she can receive benefits at home and not be institutionalized. As part of the in-home benefits, Samantha receives Medicaid Personal Care (MPC). DSHS assessed Samantha as needing 90 hours of MPC per month. In 2005, DSHS adopted changes to its assessment formula pertaining to MPC. Under the new rules, Samantha's MPC hours were reduced. Samantha petitioned the Superior Court for review of the DSHS reassessment. The court invalidated some of the DSHS rule changes. DSHS appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the rule changes were valid. The Supreme Court agreed with the lower court, finding the rule changes invalid under the Medicaid laws. The Court affirmed the superior court's decision.

Washington Imaging Services is a medical imaging company that retains Overlake Imaging Associates as an independent contractor. Overlakeâs radiologists interpret the images that Washington Imaging generates. Washington Imaging pays Overlake a percentage of net receipts pursuant to the terms of a contract between them. Though patients know that doctors interpret the images taken by Washington Imaging, they do not know that Overlakeâs doctors review their images. The issue for review by the Supreme Court centered on whether Washington Imaging must pay business and occupation (B&O) tax on the entire amount it received from patients, or whether the amounts that Washington Imaging paid Overlake qualify as âpass throughâ payments on which Washington Imaging does not owe the tax. The trial court ruled in the Department of Revenueâs favor, holding that the amounts paid to Overlake do not qualify for pass-through treatment. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court. The Supreme Court found that âWashington Imaging does not act in an agentâs capacity to pass payments from the patients through to Overlake. All of the payments received by Washington Imaging constitute gross income. . . and the B&O tax is owed on the entire amount that Washington Imaging receives.â

Petitioner Timothy Martin appealed his conviction on kidnapping and robbery charges. His principal claim on appeal was that the State prosecutor violated his constitutional rights when, on cross-examination at trial, the prosecutor inferred Petitioner had tailored his testimony to be consistent with police reports, witness statements and testimony presented by prior witnesses. After a thorough review of the pertinent case law and clauses of the federal and state constitutions, the Supreme Court found no violation of Petitionerâs constitutional rights. The Court affirmed Defendantâs conviction.

Washington residents who were consumers of allegedly illegal debt adjustment programs filed a class action lawsuit against Defendants Global Client Solutions, LLC (GCS) and Rocky Mountain Bank and Trust (RMBT). Defendants managed and held âspecial purpose accountsâ as part of their adjustment programs. Payments to consumersâ creditors were authorized from these accounts. When enough money accumulated in a consumerâs account, Defendants would attempt to use the funds to negotiate settlement with creditors on terms favorable to the consumer. Defendants charged consumers various fees for its services. GCSâ earnings came from the fees they charged directly to the special purpose account holders. RMBT did not receive fees, but benefited by holding Plaintiffsâ money without paying interest. In 2009, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a cease and desist order that required a reformation of RMBTâs banking practices. GCS subsequently stopped opening new accounts at RMBT. Later that year, Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against GCS and RMBT on behalf of all consumers who has special purpose accounts. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington certified three questions to the state Supreme Court regarding interpretation of state law in the Plaintiffsâ case. In response, the Supreme Court concluded that GCS is a âdebt adjusterâ and as such, is not exempt from liability under state law. Furthermore, the Court concluded that debt settlement companies that worked with GCS and RMBT are likely subject to the stateâs debt adjusting statute fee limits, depending on whether they are debt adjusters providing debt adjustment services.

Washingtonâs criminal rules authorize a trial judge to release a person before trial, subject to electronic home monitoring (EHM). If convicted of a felony, the defendant is entitled to have the days spent on pretrial EHM credited against any sentence of confinement he or she may receive. Petitioner Joshua Harris pled guilty to two misdemeanors and sought credit for his time spent on EHM. When the trial court did not give him the credit, Petitioner petitioned the Superior Court for a writ of habeas corpus alleging unlawful restraint because he did not receive the credit. The Superior Court granted the writ and ordered the trial court to grant the credit. The appellate court reversed the habeas court order. On appeal, the Supreme Court found that according to state law, there were rational bases for treating felons and misdemeanants differently when crediting EHM. Petitioner was not entitled to the credit he sought as a misdemeanant. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the appellate courtâs decision to reverse the trial courtâs grant of credit for time served under EHM.