118 results for 'court:"Washington Court Of Appeals"'.
J. Lawrence-Berrey finds that the lower court improperly applied the wrong statute against a man and his attorneys who were caught making up statements to support manufactured class claims against Robinhood Financial. The lower court used a minor claims statute to support the sanctions, and while the claims were manufactured, their existence as being class claims do not make them minor. The matter is remanded to determine what amount of sanctions under the correct statute are called for to deter their actions going forward. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lawrence-Berrey , Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 38623-6-III, Categories: Sanctions
J. Chung remands a dispute between a group of former teachers and a chemical manufacture in which the teachers claim they were subjected to health risks due to being exposed to the manufacture's chemicals found in fluorescent light
ballast capacitors. A jury found the manufacture liable and awarded the teachers $185 million in damages. But the lower court incorrectly applied Missouri law regarding the statute of repose and damages, when it should have applied Washington's Product Liability Act, which has no statute on repose. Further proceedings are needed as a result. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chung , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 83287-5-I, Categories: Product Liability, Choice Of Law
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court improperly granted summary judgment to a series of commercial businesses in an easement dispute. A doctor sued the businesses in an attempt to secure an easement for a property the doctor was looking to develop, claims that the businesses prevailed on during summary judgment because they argued the doctor knew how hard the property was going to be to develop due to it being landlocked. But summary judgment was issued prematurely. The doctor produced expert testimony that said it was still feasible to develop on the property and that an easement was needed to access the property for those purposes. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 57873-5-II, Categories: Property
J. Veljacic finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of burglary. Defendant claims that the prosecutor committed misconduct by misstating the burden of proof during closing arguments. While the prosecutor's statements were improper, defendant waived the right to appeal that claim because she did not object to it during trial. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Veljacic, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 57910-3-II, Categories: Burglary, Prosecutorial Misconduct
J. Diaz finds that the lower court properly found that a wireless company in the business of selling pre-paid airtime from cellular networks is subjected to a city's utility tax. Precedent from the Supreme Court, the legislature's intent when crafting the utility tax, and a plain reading of the tax code all point to the wireless company's services falling under the umbrella of the utility tax. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 85094-6-I, Categories: Tax
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J. Mann finds that the lower court improperly found in favor of a university after a former employee says she was fired and passed up for a promotion because of her gender. There is testimony on the record that there was an environment of gender stereotypes and favoritism towards her male colleagues, as well as the fact that two positions opened up after she was fired that were both filled by men, that give rise to a genuine issue of fact as to whether she was treated differently because of her gender. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 84592-6-I, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Staab finds that defendant, who was convicted of killing one student and seriously injuring three others at Freeman High School, must be resentenced. Defendant was 15 years old at the time of the crime and was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. However, because defendant was under the age of 16 at the time of the shooting, he should have been sentenced to 25 years to life. Vacated.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Staab, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 39185-0-III, Categories: Murder, Sentencing
J. Veljacic finds that the lower court properly upheld a decision from Washington State's Department of Labor and Industries to implement a new "Interpreting Works Scheduling" system. The department was working under an "explicit directive" from the state legislature to implement a new system since 2018, and the department gave all the proper notice that a system change was incoming. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Veljacic, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 58071-3-II, Categories: Administrative Law, Labor
J. Dwyer finds that the lower court properly corrected a clerical mistake on a sentencing document regarding defendant's assault conviction. The lower court has the legal authority to correct documents to reflect the terms of the sentence that the court intended to pass down, and the record shows that is exactly what the lower court did by fixing some unintentional errors in the document's wording. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Dwyer, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 84814-3-I, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Assault
J. Maxa finds that the lower court improperly issued summary judgment in favor of Industrial Scientific Corporation (ISC) in a lawsuit brought by an independent contractor who suffered respiratory injuries after being exposed to chlorine dioxide at a paper mill. While summary judgment was properly issued to the owner of the mill for not having a special duty of care towards the contractor, the same cannot be said for ISC. It had safety monitors that failed to go off after the contractor was exposed to the dangerous levels of chlorine dioxide, and as a result, claims can continue against it under the product liability theory. Affirmed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 58137-0-II, Categories: Negligence, Product Liability
J. Veljacic finds that the lower court improperly granted summary judgment in favor of a homeowners association after a household sued them when they were forced by the HOA to remove a political sign in their yard. They were forced to remove the sign just prior to a primary election, and the local laws governing political signs "unambiguously disallows" an HOA from prohibiting yard signs before an election. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Veljacic, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 57740-2-II, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections
J. Maxa finds that the lower court improperly issued an order that found defendant had violated the terms of his community custody. The violation stemmed from an incident where he reportedly threatened to stab his roommate, leading to a felony conviction for death threats and harassment that was later vacated due to insufficient evidence. The lower court found this incident still violated his community custody, but the relevant statute states that a violation cannot be based on hearsay evidence alone and this finding was too largely based on hearsay evidence. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 57552-3-II, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Probation
J. Pennell finds that the lower court properly upheld a bench warrant against a minor for complying with the terms of her supervision following an assault conviction. While the warrant did conflict with a related state statute, it was proper under the terms of the Juvenile Justice Act, which legal precedent says take priority. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pennell, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 39113-2-III, Categories: Juvenile Law, Assault
J. Cruser finds that the lower court improperly issued an order granting attorney fees in a defamation case. The group moving for the fees did not adhere to a 10-day timeline in which attorney fees are requested, and as a result, their motion was untimely and should have been denied. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cruser, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 58155-8-II, Categories: Defamation, Attorney Fees
J. Hazelrigg finds that the lower court properly revised an order that found a construction company owed $228,000 to a court-appointed receiver under a receivership statute. The revisions made by the lower court were not an abuse of discretion and furthered the general goals of the receivership statute, which in this case is to fairly distribute estate property to creditors. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hazelrigg, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 85105-5-I, Categories: Civil Procedure, Construction
J. Feldman finds that the lower court improperly tossed forcible entry and detainer claims against a property management company over the company's decision to enter a hotel unit, remove the belongings of the guests, and deny them reentry. The lower court dismissed the claims without giving the hotel guests enough time to present their own evidence, and then ruled against them even though they had effectively rebutted the dismissal arguments of the management company. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Feldman, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 85225-6-I, Categories: Property
J. Veljacic finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant of violating a court order regarding domestic violence. During the trial, the state did not properly represent the knowledge requirement to the jury needed to convict for that violation, unfairly lifting the burden of proof from the state. A new trial is needed as a result. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Veljacic, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 57354-7-II, Categories: Domestic Violence
J. Mann finds that the lower court misinterpreted the language of new permit rules set out by the state regarding stormwater runoff. The lower court found that the permit rules, which state that transportation facilities must obtain coverage under the stromwater runoff permit, only apply to "limited portions of the covered transportation facilities." But that interpretation does not take into consideration a broader reading of the rules' language, and when taken together, the permit rules make it clear that the rules apply to an entire transportation facility. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 85665-1-I, Categories: Environment, Transportation
J. Che finds that the lower court properly issued a no-bail bench warrant against defendant for not appearing at a pretrial hearing, a warrant that eventually led to defendant's arrest. Defendant challenges the legality of the no-bail portion of the warrant, and under the law, a no-bail bench warrant is legal as long as a subsequent bail determination is held within 48 hours of defendant's arrest. Because that hearing did take place within the allotted time, defendant's due process rights were not violated. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Che, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 57332-6-II, Categories: Bail, Due Process
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court properly denied a petition from two former owners of adult family homes after they were placed on a vulnerable adult abuse registry list when they were found to have neglected a vulnerable adult. The two former owners moved to have their names struck from the registry, but under state law, nursing assistants with a single finding of neglect that took place outside of a nursing facility are not eligible for removal. Legal precedent has upheld these restrictions, and there is nothing on the record to suggest they were improperly applied in this case. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 58113-2-II, Categories: Civil Procedure, Health Care
J. Lee finds that the lower court properly denied an individual's request to restore his firearm rights, which were terminated due to a sealed 2014 conviction for rape when he was still a juvenile. He claims that because his conviction is sealed, it should be treated as if it never happened for firearm purposes. Precedent states, however, that a sealed juvenile conviction continues to exist on the record as a conviction, thereby disqualifying him from firearm restoration. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lee, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 57583-3-II, Categories: Civil Rights, Firearms
J. Staab finds that the lower court properly dismissed a complaint from the Department of Labor and Industries alleging that a cannabis company was not properly paying overtime wages. Under state law, the department is only allowed to file a civil suit to collect wages that a company has already been ordered to pay, and it must attain its right to make that filing through a wage order, wage complaint, or wage assignment. The department did not have any of those things when it filed a suit against the cannabis company. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Staab, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 39459-0-III, Categories: Employment
J. Price finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant for child molestation and incest against his daughter. Defendant argues that his daughter was improperly found competent to testify and that she made hearsay statements on the record. The lower court followed all the proper procedures in allowing a child to testify on such a serious issue and showed real thought in considering what was "reasonable to expect for a 6-year-old’s memory." Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Price, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 57808-5-II, Categories: Sex Offender, Witnesses, Child Victims
J. Cooney finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of DUI. Defendant claims that the state improperly used a peremptory challenge against a juror, who was Latino, after defendant objected to the move. Defendant says this was race-related, but the juror in question made several comments about his fear that he could not be fair and impartial during the trial, giving the state good cause to excuse them from the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cooney, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 38980-4-III, Categories: Jury, Dui
J. Che finds that the lower court properly ruled in favor of Washington after a nonprofit claimed that the state was wrongfully collecting document surcharges in order to record documents with a county auditor. The nonprofit said the surcharges violated the state constitution, but the surcharge falls under the state's taxation powers and was properly implemented through the state's taxation authority. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Che, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 57502-7-II, Categories: Constitution, Tax
J. Bowman finds that the lower court improperly found in favor of a medical center after a former patient claims it misdiagnosed her cancerous mass as benign. The lower court granted summary judgment in favor of the center after finding that the patient's out-of-state expert was not qualified to give an opinion on Washington's standards of care in this regard, but the comparison between the national standard of care and Washington's own standards do not differ too wildly. The expert showed that he was familiar with the national standards, and because Washington follows those by and large, he was not disqualified from testifying on the case. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bowman, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 85197-7-I, Categories: Experts, Medical Malpractice
J. Fearing finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant over his involvement in a shooting. The lower court allowed several instances of racist interferences to taint the trial against defendant, including allowing the prosecutor to raise questions about border security. Even defendant's sentence was influenced by the state seeking a sentence increase based on defendant's alleged request to seek membership in a Latino gang. Under state law, whenever "racism interferes in a fair trial," the convictions must be vacated and a new trial is needed. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Fearing, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 39087-0-III, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, Gangs
J. Fearing finds that the lower court properly entered a protective order against an ex-husband in favor of his ex-wife. He claims that when the lower court realigned him as the petitioner in the dispute, the lower court lost the authority to enter an order against him. The lower court did err, but the error was in realigning him in the first place. The matter is remanded to realign him as the respondent, and with the clerical error fixed, the protective order against him stands. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Fearing, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 39365-8-III, Categories: Civil Procedure, Restraining Order
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court properly ruled in favor of King County in a dispute with a company that was fined $100 for improperly disposing of its waste at a non-designated facility. The company says the code is unlawful and restricts on its right to freely dispose of its property. The code, however, is a reasonable extension of the county's right to regulate its sanitation, a right granted to local governments in Washington by their state constitution. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 57452-7-II, Categories: Environment, Municipal Law
J. Birk finds that the lower court improperly determined the local statutes that govern which municipal water supplier rates will apply to a golf course. The golf course and the city disagree on which statutes apply, and the lower court determined it was the statute favored by the city that applies here. That finding was not supported by the record, however, given that when taken together, the histories of both statutes and the intention of the legislature show that the statutes favored by the golf course dictate their water rates. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Birk, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 38792-5-III, Categories: Municipal Law, Water