118 results for 'court:"Washington Court Of Appeals"'.
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
J. Lawrence-Berrey finds that the lower court improperly struck the opinion of an expert and former judge in a dispute between the Department of Children, Youth, and Families and the estate of a boy whose injuries were the subject of investigation over potential child abuse. The lower court seemed to strike the testimony on the idea that a jury would attach too much weight to the opinion of a former judge, but the testimony was not likely to "arouse an emotional response from jurors," given that it was largely centered around what a judge would have done in regards to the child being removed from his mother's care. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lawrence-Berrey, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 39483-2-III, Categories: Family Law, Experts
J. Pennell finds that the lower court properly ordered out-of-home placement for a minor due to concerns over the child's safety. While it is true that the Department of Children, Youth and Families did not properly engage with the father or show active efforts to prevent the breakup of the family, the lower court's ultimate conclusion was correct that placing the child back with the father could potentially put the child in jeopardy due to the father's untreated mental illness. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pennell, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 39603-7-III, Categories: Family Law
J. Fearing finds that the lower court improperly denied the recovery of emotional damages and a jury trial for damages for two people who lost a horse they had just bought during the boarding process. A jury trial is guaranteed for private actions such as this under the Consumer Protection Act, and a claimant is allowed to recover emotional distress damages for the loss of livestock under the Theft of Livestock Act. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Fearing, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 39450-6-III, Categories: Civil Procedure, Damages, Emotional Distress
J. Maxa finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant of rape. Defendant moved to dismiss the case against him when audio recordings revealed state actors recorded conversations with his attorney and opened his legal mail, and the state did not prove that these wrongs didn't inject prejudice against him during trial proceedings. Further proceedings are called for to determine if his charges should be tossed or if a new trial could take place. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 56814-4-II, Categories: Fair Trial, Sex Offender
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J. Cruser finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant for sex crimes against a minor. On appeal, defendant takes issue with the fact that during his offender score calculations, the state included a prior sex offense conviction from an Australian court in 2017. Under the statute that governs the calculation of sex offender scores, there is no language that excludes foreign country convictions from being able to be included in an offender score. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cruser, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 57076-9-II, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Maxa finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant on a DUI conviction. The lower court imposed an exceptional sentence against defendant, finding that the standard range sentence would be too lenient given his offender score. But such a determination of leniency needs to be determined by a jury, not the trial court. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 58050-1-II, Categories: Sentencing, Dui
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant for child molestation. Defendant claims that his offender score was too high and that the lower court improperly imposed an exceptional sentence against him. While the lower court admits his offender score could have been miscalculated, the fact that he used "his position of trust" to facilitate his crimes, means his sentence would have been just as exceptional regardless of his offender score. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 57221-4-II, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Lawrence-Berrey finds that the lower court properly in part resolved a series of questions stemming from a defamation dispute between an individual and a local paper. The dispute presented a series of legal issues over the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act and how it relates to actions pending on the law's effective date. A proper interpretation of law finds that the Act does apply to causes of action made on or after the its effective date and service of amended pleadings restarts the 60-day clock. Affirmed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lawrence-Berrey, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 38991-0-III, Categories: Civil Procedure, Defamation, First Amendment
J. Maxa finds that the lower court improperly issued a writ of restitution in favor of a subsidized housing facility that gave the facility possession of a tenant's apartment after it claimed he breached his lease. In order for such an order to comply with the CARES Act, the landlord has to give the tenant 30 days to vacate the property. The landlord here gave the tenant four different 10-notices and therefore did not fully comply with the language of the CARES Act. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 58118-3-II, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Property
J. Hazelrigg finds that the lower court properly issued a violation notice against a brewing company for not complying with a mask mandate in 2020. The company claims that the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board did not have the authority to issue the violation notice, but the board was within its right to issue the notice given that not complying with the then-statewide mandate posed a "threat to public safety" under the law.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hazelrigg, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 84927-1-I, Categories: Licensing, Agency, Covid-19
J. Diaz finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of a series of sex crimes against his daughter, including rape and child molestation. Defendant argues that a law criminalizing incest is unlawful and that there was not enough evidence to convict him. But there is nothing on the record that supports any of his assertions and defendant's claims of "irregularities" during trial are without merit. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 84445-8-I, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Bowman finds that the lower court properly dispersed funds from an eminent domain transaction. The property that was condemned included a cell tower, leading a series of telecommunications companies to claim leasehold interest over some of the $16 million fund given as a compensation for the property. The lower court used all of the proper metrics and data points to distribute the funds among the numerous parties fairly and there is no evidence their procedures were an abuse of discretion. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bowman, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 84466-1-I, Categories: Property, Contract
J. Feldman finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant of child rape. The lower court allowed a witness to testify that defendant had sexually abused the victim's sister, despite a pretrial order suppressing any statements on that issue. The lower court should have declared a mistrial after the error and after defendant moved for one, but did not do so. A new trial is necessary as a result. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Feldman, Filed On: December 26, 2023, Case #: 84083-5-I, Categories: Fair Trial, Sex Offender
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court properly terminated defendant's participation in a drug program after he was charged with trafficking in stolen property. Defendant claims that the lower court did not have enough evidence to remove him from the program, but the record shows a pattern of poor behavior that supported the move. Defendant was stagnated in a program for 40 months that typically only takes two years, filled a prescription without permission from the drug court team, and behaved disrespectfully on social media when he was told he had to attend a mandatory holiday party. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 57240-1-II, Categories: Drug Offender
J. Pennell finds that the lower court properly ruled against a homeless organization that sought to challenge a Spokane ballot initiative that expands on a camping ban at certain locations around the city. The organization claims the initiative conflicts with state law and falls outside local initiative powers, but those claims do not pass legal muster. The state law they claim it conflicts with is not centered around homelessness regulations, but is instead mostly concerned with data and performance metrics. The initiative in question also falls well within the definition of an exercise of police powers, making it appropriate for the ballot. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pennell, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 39924-9-III, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, Municipal Law
J. Price finds that the lower court properly ruled in favor of the University of Washington when a land developer sued them after being passed up for a development deal. The developer says the university used an unfair bidding process that resulted in the developer's competitor being selected for the building project instead, and says the university should have used a competitive bidding procedure to make its choice. There is nothing in law or in the record that required the university to follow a strict bidding process and it had the legal discretion to select the developer's competitor. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Price, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 57985-5-II, Categories: Property, Contract
J. Hazelrigg finds that the lower court properly issued two turnover orders against a construction company in a receivership dispute. The construction company repeatedly refused to follow court orders regarding the receivership status and their efforts to seemingly "circumvent the receivership statute" are without merit. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hazelrigg, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 84320-6-I, Categories: Civil Procedure
J. Veljacic finds that the lower court properly found that defendant is a "sexually violent predator." There was enough evidence on the record to support the findings that he fell under this definition, including evidence that he committed a "recent overt act." The lower court did improperly exclude certain evidence during proceedings as hearsay, but the error was harmless and did not influence the outcome of the findings. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Veljacic, Filed On: November 22, 2023, Case #: 56944-2-II, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court properly denied a certificate to a care center looking to apply to fulfill additional hospice services in the state. In order to gain the certificate, the center needed to establish financial feasibility. The lower court properly concluded that the center's metrics for measuring the average length of stay for its patients rendered its financial feasibility analysis unreliable. The matter is nonetheless remanded to give the center a chance to supplement its application. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: November 22, 2023, Case #: 57759-3-II, Categories: Health Care
J. Feldman finds that the lower court properly calculated defendant's offender score for his assault convictions, but improperly imposed a series of collection fees against him. Defendant's offender score was not improperly calculated. However, defendant is correct, and the state concedes, that an amendment to the relevant law removes the DNA collection fee requirement from his sentence. Affirmed and remanded.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Feldman, Filed On: November 20, 2023, Case #: 84716-3-I, Categories: Sentencing, Assault
J. Chung finds that the lower court properly imposed a condition of supervision on defendant stemming from his rape conviction. The condition prohibits defendant from having access to sexually explicit material, which defendant claims is too vague. His claims fail due to the fact that the condition has been held up repeatedly by courts in the past and is directly related to the goal of rehabilitating defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chung, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 84443-1-I, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Mann finds that the lower court properly issued a restitution order against defendant stemming from his conspiracy to commit murder and firearm possession convictions following a home robbery that resulted in the death of one person. Sentencing courts have broad discretion in their ability to order that a defendant must pay restitution to the victims or families of the victims in a case such as this, and the lower court's decision to issue such an order against defendant was not a violation of that discretion. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: November 13, 2023, Case #: 84536-5-I, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Conspiracy
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court properly convicted but improperly sentenced defendant for violating a local statute that makes it unlawful to leave a dangerous dog outside unattended and unleashed. Defendant was convicted for violating the ordinance after her dog was left unsecured at home, but was given a chance to suspend her sentence if the dog was turned over to animal control the next day. That condition on the suspension of the sentence is not supported by any language or requirements under the law, so the sentence was unlawful. Reversed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: 56949-3-II, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Sentencing
J. Dwyer finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant for his vehicular homicide and hit-and-run convictions. Defendant claims the lower court improperly calculated his offender score, resulting in an exceptional sentence imposed against him. Claims of insufficient evidence to support the sentence are without merit and the lower court properly found he had not met his burden of showing that his multiple offenses should be counted as a single offense. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Dwyer , Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: 84547-1-I, Categories: Sentencing, Vehicular Homicide
J. Birk finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant for indecent liberties based on a charge he had sexual contact with a woman who was incapable of giving consent. There were too many elements during the proceedings that injected prejudice against defendant, such as the lower court's move to admit evidence that defendant made prior advances on the woman and refused to exclude inconsistent statements made by a government witness. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Birk, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 83386-3-I, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender
J. Coburn finds that the lower court improperly issued an order for out-of-home placement for three minor siblings. The juvenile court used an incorrect reading of the relevant statute that did not show how the welfare department met its burden of proving that there was "clear, cogent, and convincing" evidence that the parent's deficiency posed a danger to the children. Though the lower court had enough evidence to issue an order of dependency due to the mother's drug use, the out-of-home placement order required far more supporting evidence. Reversed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Coburn, Filed On: October 23, 2023, Case #: 84122-0-I, Categories: Family Law
J. Maxa finds that the lower court properly denied a certificate of need to perform
elective percutaneous coronary interventions. The health care facility that brought the petition attempted to introduce data from outside the Department of Health to show their need for such a certificate, but the lower court properly found in denying the application that the department was not required by law to consider the additional data. The data from the department already serves as an exhaustive list, and the outside data was properly dismissed as a result. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 57403-9-II, Categories: Evidence, Health Care
J. Staab finds that the lower court properly denied a company's permit application to continue operating short-term rentals following landowner code changes. The landowning company says its application fits the requirement for operating the rentals as a nonconforming use, but this argument fails for two main reasons. Their application seeks to operate more than one short-term rental and the property owner does not intend to use of the residential buildings as a residence, two requirements under the new code. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Staab, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 39273-2-III, Categories: Municipal Law, Property