119 results for 'court:"Washington Court Of Appeals"'.
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
J. Smith finds that the lower court properly convicted but improperly sentenced defendant for assault and violating a no-contact order. While evidence on the record supports his convictions, the sentence defendant received for the violation of the no-contact order is longer than statutorily allowed. Affirmed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 83738-9-I, Categories: Sentencing, Assault
J. Smith finds that the lower court properly ruled in a dispute over tribal taxation over cigarettes. The key question in the dispute stems from conflicting orders of what counts as "units sold," leaving the state to ask relief from the court on its enforcement obligations regarding that definition. But the relevant statute is clear that the definition of units sold is either "packs of cigarettes bearing an excise tax stamp of the state on which the state collects excise tax," or "roll-your-own” tobacco containers from which the state collects excise tax, a definition with which the lower court properly concurred. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 84265-0-I, Categories: Tax
J. Glasgow finds the lower court improperly conducted a hearing regarding de facto parentage of a child. While the mother presented testimony and the petitioner cross-examined her, she was not permitted to cross-examine the petitioner after his testimony. The matter is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 57171-4-II, Categories: Family Law
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J. Siddoway finds that the lower court improperly held that an arbitration agreement does not apply to an employment matter between a beauty company and a class of its independent contractors working as distributors. While there is a matter of enforceability regarding the forum selection clause of the agreement that requires further proceedings, the arbitration agreement is not too narrow to encompass the claims and can apply to the case. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Siddoway, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 38842-5-III, Categories: Arbitration, Employment
J. Diaz finds the lower court improperly granted defendant’s motion to dismiss. Defendant was charged with felony indecent exposure for being in his apartment and touching himself while watching three minor girls play on the apartment complex playscape. The lower court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss, because he was clothed and defendant argues that nudity is an essential element of the crime. The instant court finds that despite being clothed, defendant’s behavior constitutes obscene exposure even without nudity, as is not a statutory requirement. The matter is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: 84366-4-I, Categories: Sex Offender
J. Chung finds that the lower court improperly granted limited guardianship of a minor to the cousins of the child's mother. Under the law, the court is required to appoint the parents' guardian of choice unless there is evidence such a move would not be in the best interest of the child. The lower court did not make any findings on this issue or determine if doing so would be best for the child, so further proceedings are needed. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chung, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 84755-4-I, Categories: Family Law, Guardianship
J. Lawrence-Berrey finds that the lower court properly denied a grandmother's petition to intervene in dependency proceedings for her granddaughter. The women tried to intervene to establish her petition for de facto parentage of her granddaughter, but she lacked standing to do because a relative who has placement of a child does not necessarily satisfy the legal requirement of taking on full parental responsibilities or have all the legal rights a parent has. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lawrence-Berrey, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 39276-7-III, Categories: Family Law
J. Pennell finds that the lower court improperly denied a motion for an order for limited dissemination in a landlord and tenant dispute. The lower court denied the request without determining all of the proper good cause factors and appears to have denied it on improper standards. New proceedings to determine the merits of the request are necessary. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pennell, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 39089-6-III, Categories: Landlord Tenant
J. Veljacic finds that the lower court properly ordered a new trial in a sexual assault dispute brought by a former patient of a child treatment center who alleges she was abused by a counselor. The move for a new trial came after it was revealed that one of the jurors had not released important information regarding their legal history during voir dire. Because the information related directly to the case and child protective service issues, it was a lack of transparency that well supported a new trial. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Veljacic, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: 53826-1-II, Categories: Civil Rights, Jury, Negligence
J. Diaz finds that the lower court improperly found in favor of a union in a dispute where a nonprofit health care system tried to recoup overpaid wages from the union members. The lower court found that the overpaid wages being recovered did not fit the "inadvertent and infrequent" nature of the relevant statute. However, there still remains questions over the legal definition of "inadvertent and infrequent" as it relates to the wages. Summary judgment, as a result, was premature. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 84660-4-I, Categories: Employment, Labor / Unions
J. Mann finds that the lower court properly terminated the parental rights of a mother. The mother did not participate in treatments for her substance abuse and there was evidence on the record that the children were "insecure and unstable" with her. The lower court did all it needed to do as part of their reunification efforts, but ultimately the termination order was in the best interest of the children. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 83810-5-I, Categories: Family Law
J. Lawrence-Berrey finds that the lower court properly in part ruled in favor of a series of local governments and districts who sued the Department of Ecology over changes to the regulation of nitrogen discharges. The local entities claim that the department violated the rulemaking process when it adopted the new rules based on two documents produced by the department, and the lower court found in their favor. At the heart of the dispute is the question of whether three key "rules" that were changed are even rules at all under the Administrative Procedure Act. While two of the challenged rules cannot be considered as such, the third one does meet the definition under the APA. This means that certain new permit-related requirements are unlawful, and if the department would like to act on them further, they must go through the proper rulemaking procedures. Affirmed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lawrence-Berrey, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 39494-8-III, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, Agency
J. Hazelrigg finds that the lower court improperly tossed a suit against a series of Washington state officials and departments after a public utility district employee was badly wounded when a tree fell on his vehicle. The lower court granted immunity to the officials without first determining if the negligence claims can survive based on a special duty to the employee. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hazelrigg, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 84166-1-I, Categories: Immunity, Negligence
J. Mann finds that the lower court properly dismissed a suit against a series of casino employees who were present during an altercation at the casino parking lot that resulted in the death of an individual. The estate of the decedent says the employees owed a duty to protect the individual and that the lower court improperly tossed the suit based on tribal sovereign immunity. While it's true that the case should not have been dismissed on the tribal immunity grounds, the dismissal was ultimately proper because there was no special relationship between decedent and the casino employees that gave them a duty to intervene. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 84359-1-I, Categories: Native Americans, Negligence
J. Hazelrigg finds that the Board of Appeals improperly issued an order finding that a nurse financially exploited a vulnerable adult after the daughter accused the nurse of stealing some of her elderly mother's pain medication. A hearing that followed the allegations was mostly centered around the credibility of the nurse and the daughter, and led to an administrative law judge finding in the nurse's favor. The Board of Appeals' decision to reverse that decision was improper, as it did not give due regard to the administrative law judge's ability to observe witnesses. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hazelrigg, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 84709-1-I, Categories: Civil Procedure, Elder Abuse
J. Che finds that the lower court properly upheld a fine against a for-profit corporation for offering insurance without proper authority. The company sells memberships that offer assistance to members for legal fees incurred as a result of a self-defense incident, but it is not authorized to conduct insurance services in the state. The company's claims that these membership benefits do count as insurance are without merit, as they are measurable amounts relating to legal expenses and meet the legal standards of insurance. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Che, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 57043-2-II, Categories: Insurance, Licensing
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder. Defendant claims that allowing evidence that linked his DNA to the crime scene using DNA information in a community DNA database violated his privacy rights. But there is no privacy interest under the law regarding DNA that a relative voluntarily uploaded to a public database. Law enforcement have open access to that database as well, so there is no privacy dispute at play. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 56801-2-II, Categories: Dna, Murder
J. Feldman finds that the lower court properly ruled in favor of the City of Edmonds in its dispute with an apartment complex over the city's desire to build a walkway within an easement area. The record shows the city has enough property rights to construct the walkway, which the city has been attempting to build for several years. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Feldman, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 84712-1-I, Categories: Municipal Law, Property
J. Smith finds that the lower court improperly in part convicted defendant of rape and kidnapping. An element of the jury instructions were incorrectly given, as the state contended that defendant committed two acts of rape but did not require the jury to agree to which act supported the overall conviction. While defendant's claims of double jeopardy are without merit, his rape and kidnapping convictions are vacated and the matter is remanded for further proceedings. His robbery conviction requires resentencing as well. Vacated in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 83773-7-I, Categories: Sex Offender, Assault, Kidnapping
J. Mann finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of assault. Defendant claims that the prosecutors in the case improperly made a "generic tailoring" argument that allowed the jury to make adverse inferences based on defendant's right to represent himself during trial. While this argument was improper, defendant's failure to object to it during trial waives his claims. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 83589-1-I, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Assault
J. Staab finds that the lower court improperly ruled on a water rights dispute in which an irrigation district applied to amend one of its water rights certificates. Both the lower court and the Pollution Control Hearings Board, which ruled against the district, went beyond their authority in trying to decide the case on summary judgment. This is largely due to the fact that the pollution board only addressed part of the issue while it reviewed the Department of Ecology's motion for summary judgment, so further proceedings with the pollution board are needed to review the factual issues at hand. Reversed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Staab, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 38897-2-III, Categories: Environment, Water
[Consolidated.] J. Mann finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's request for an unconditional release trial after he was civilly committed under the sexually violent predator act and later deemed to still meet the definition of a sexually violent predator. The expert testimonies used to come to these conclusions were proper and his due process rights have not been violated due to the state following the annual review process to ensure that he is still determined to be mentally dangerous. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 82912-2-I, Categories: Commitment
J. Chung finds that the lower court properly denied a 30-day shelter care hearing for an infant placed in shelter care. The mother of the infant moved for a fifth shelter hearing, but this was not called for as the continuation of shelter care requires a court order, not necessarily a monthly hearing. The court is within its rights to conduct a hearing on shelter care if it feels it is needed, but is not required under the law. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chung, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 84266-8-I, Categories: Civil Procedure, Family Law
J. Pennell finds that the lower court improperly tossed claims from an individual who sued an operator of a residential reentry center after he was released from prison. The suit stems from the operator allegedly misrepresenting his anticipated job duties when the individual was requesting approval for a job and took his phone in such a way that caused him to lose his job and return to a detention facility. The lower court tossed his suit on the basis that detention decisions rest in the hands of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and while that is true, it does not shield the operator from liability if they engaged in unlawful conduct that resulted in the individual being returned to detention. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pennell, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 39201-5-III, Categories: Civil Procedure
J. Birk finds that the lower court properly denied the state’s motion to dismiss a request for relief from defendant who was convicted of child molestation in 2009. Several years after the conviction, defendant moved for a new trial when one of the victims in the case came forward to say her testimony was coerced and that she was not sexually abused. The state argued that these new statements are unreliable, but that does not change the fact that a “rational trier of fact” could find in favor of defendant based on the new evidence. Affirmed and remanded.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Birk, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 83552-1-I, Categories: Sex Offender
J. Lee finds that the lower court properly found that an individual was not exempt from a garnishment from his banking account. He claims his account should be exempt because the account contained community property assets. The bank reduced its claim against him before the individual's marriage, a key element of the individual's exemption argument, which means the judgment was timely obtained and the exemption does not apply. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lee, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 56982-5-II, Categories: Banking / Lending
J. Cruser finds that the lower court properly tossed a public records lawsuit against the Washington state patrol. An individual requested a series of records relating to arrests from the late 1990s, but the state patrol withheld the records after determining they were exempt from the Public Records Act. The individual's subsequent suit was properly tossed because the clear language of the law restricts "files and records that are related to the commission of any crime to the public" through a public records request. There are other means, such as through a Washington Access to Criminal History application, that serve as the proper channels to acquire the requested information. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cruser, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 57828-0-II, Categories: Public Record
J. Lee finds that the lower court properly revoked defendant's community custody and returned him to prison regarding his underlying rape conviction. Defendant was arrested for a series of offenses while released, as well as admitted to using drugs. All of these offenses supported the move to place defendant back in prison, and the state followed all the proper protocols to do so. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lee, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 57303-2-II, Categories: Sex Offender