119 results for 'court:"Washington Court Of Appeals"'.
J. Che finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of murder. Defendant claims he was acting in self-defense when he committed the crime, but the state did not commit any misconduct in proving the absence of self-defense. The jury was also properly instructed on the matter and his right to a defense was not impeded in any way. The matter is remanded, however, to strike supervision fees. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Che, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 56202-2-II, Categories: Murder
J. Chung finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant on robbery and assault convictions. Defendant challenges the use of videoconferencing during proceedings, claiming that it violated his right to a fair trial, but these claims are without merit as the videoconferencing strategies were being employed to combat Covid-19. The mandatory firearm enhancements the court imposed on his sentence were also proper, as the language of the firearms sentence enhancement statute allow multiple punishments for multiple convictions. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chung, Filed On: July 17, 2023, Case #: 82910-6-I, Categories: Fair Trial, Robbery, Sentencing
J. Siddoway finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of trying to elude a police car. While the lower court made an improper evidentiary ruling as to whether defendant was driving safely or recklessly while he was evading police, it was ultimately harmless and did not change the outcome of the trial. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Siddoway, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 38604-0-III, Categories: Obstruction, Escape
J. Pennell finds that the lower court improperly ruled in a custody and dependency dispute over a minor. The lower court filed a dependency order that called for the continued out-of-home placement of the child, but the lower court has not carried out full and proper "active efforts" to prevent the breakup of the family. The matter is remanded to the lower court to either return the child to the mother, or to show definitively that returning the child to the mother would place the child in danger. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pennell, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: 39156-6-III, Categories: Family Law
J. Maxa finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant following his manslaughter and robbery convictions. Defendant claims the lower court did not consider his youth when sentencing him, but the record shows the court considered all of the statements and testimony from the proceedings and weighed all the factors properly before passing the sentence. The sentence also fell within the standard range, so there is no relief that can be given. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: 57572-8-II, Categories: Robbery, Sentencing, Manslaughter
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J. Diaz finds that the lower court improperly interpreted the wills of a husband and wife in a survivorship dispute. The thrust of the dispute stems from the question of whether the two wills, which covered how much the son would inherit, conflicted with each other in their survivorship clauses. The documents can be read in such a way to avoid conflict if interpreted through a disclaimer provision, leaving no "irreconcilable ambiguity" between the wills. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 85041-5-I, Categories: Wills / Probate
J. Feldman finds that the lower court improperly declined to award damages to tenants in a dispute with their landlord. The lower court found that the landlord did not comply with provisions in the Residential Landlord Tenant Act, but opted not to award damages because it found the tenants had not suffered actual damages. But the law does allow for statutory damages and attorney fees in the event a violation is found. Reversed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Feldman, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 83734-6-I, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Damages
J. Feldman finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a defense based on alleged defective design in a dispute between a construction company and King County. The county sued the company after a pipeline built by the company broke. The company is entitled to use a defective design defense because, under legal precedent, it should not be responsible for damages caused by a design it simply followed. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Feldman, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 83787-7-I, Categories: Contract
J. Smith finds that the lower court properly tossed claims from an attorney against a law firm and three of its employees alleging that they made improper statements about him during proceedings in an underlying dispute. The attorney was accused by the firm of acquiring documents through misrepresentations, but the statements were made fairly during a legal trial and are therefore shielded by litigation privilege. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Smith, Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: 84426-1-I , Categories: Privilege
J. Dwyer finds that the lower court improperly required the disclosure of unredacted records regarding the identities of current or former police officers for the City of Seattle who were investigated for potential unlawful conduct during the events of the January 6 Capitol riots. The officers are entitled to their names being private in the public records, as they are not "relegated to a watered-down version" of the First Amendment. They may proceed anonymously in the case. Reversed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Dwyer, Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: 83700-1-I, Categories: Public Record, Discovery, First Amendment
J. Feldman finds that the lower court improperly denied the City of Olympia's request to toss a petition challenging a city ordinance that increased the permitted types of housing in residential districts. The ordinance is exempt from legal challenges such as this under the State Environmental Policy Act. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Feldman, Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: 85048-2-I, Categories: Environment, Municipal Law, Housing
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court improperly dismissed wrongful termination claims from a worker who was fired for allegedly giving false testimony during a deposition regarding an underlying suit against an equipment manufacturer. While the lower court properly tossed his retaliation claims, the worker has put forward sworn testimony and evidence that his statements during his deposition were given truthfully. His information may have been incorrect, but it's not clear that he was intentionally lying. Reversed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 56466-1-II, Categories: Employment, Employment Retaliation
J. Chung finds that the lower court improperly tossed claims against two companies from a couple who sued after alleged exposure to asbestos-containing pipe
insulation while working at a refinery. The dismissal was granted under the statute of repose, but the companies cannot dodge the claims under that statute because there was not enough evidence put forward regarding their construction contributions to the refinery in questions. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chung, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 83745-1-I, Categories: Asbestos
J. Lee finds that the lower court properly found that a worker was exempt from the Washington Minimum Wage Act. His work for nonprofit ACLU was without pay or promise of employment down the road. Under state law, those facts do not allow for the worker to be considered a full employee and is, therefore, exempt from the minimum wage regulations. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lee, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 57156-1-II, Categories: Employment, Labor
J. Maxa remands a sentencing dispute regarding defendant's claims that he was improperly sentenced for his murder conviction. Defendant claims that the lower court did not consider his youth during resentencing, which the lower court was not legally required to consider. The matter is remanded, however, to strike a DNA collection fee and community custody supervision fees that were a part of the sentence. Affirmed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 56984-1-II, Categories: Murder, Sentencing
J. Cruser finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant for his assault and firearm convictions. Defendant was shackled during his sentencing hearing, and the state has not shown why that restraint was fully needed or that his improper shackling was a harmless error. While defendant's other challenges to his sentence are without merit, the shackling error calls for a fresh sentencing hearing. Remanded.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Cruser, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 56086-1-II, Categories: Firearms, Sentencing, Assault
J. Coburn finds that the lower court properly denied a request from PenAir to dismiss a wrongful death suit stemming from a plane crash. The airline moved for the suit to be tossed for lack of personal jurisdiction, but the suit ties to contracts and business that the company was dealing in the state of Washington. Jurisdictional claims fail as a result, and the lower court properly allowed the suit to progress. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Coburn, Filed On: June 12, 2023, Case #: 83424-0-I, Categories: Jurisdiction, Wrongful Death
J. Maxa finds that the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals properly found that an online platform for pet service providers does not have to pay industrial insurance
premiums. Pet service providers do not fall under the relevant legal definition of "workers" because they were not working under an independent contract. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Maxa, Filed On: June 6, 2023, Case #: 56929-9-II, Categories: Employment, Insurance
J. Lee finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas to drug and firearm offenses. His pleas were entered "knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently," and nothing has been brought before the court to suggest otherwise. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lee, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 56574-9-II, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Plea
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court improperly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence regarding his drug charges. The officer had permission to search the car defendant was in, but that permission did not extend to the backpacks, where the evidence at issue was found. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 56861-6-II, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Birk finds that the lower court improperly convicted defendant of murder. Defendant and his cell phone were unconstitutionally seized by a sheriff's deputy, which the state acknowledges, but the state fails to show how the attenuation doctrine overcomes the taint of the deputy's conduct. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Birk, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 83043-1-I, Categories: Murder, Search
J. Mann finds that the lower court properly dismissed claims against an individual who was injured on the job and named a subcontracting company as a possible employer for her industrial insurance benefits. The company sued her with claims that by doing so, she broke an agreement that the company claimed waived her right to those benefits. But the law does not allow for employers to execute an agreement that waives those benefits, so the claims were without standing. The woman is awarded attorney fees on appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mann, Filed On: May 22, 2023, Case #: 83748-6-I, Categories: Employment, Insurance, Attorney Fees
J. Siddoway finds that the lower court improperly found in favor of two individuals in a quiet title dispute with the town of Rockford. The lower court quieted title to allegedly undeveloped roads, and the two relied on a nonuser statute that existed nearly a century ago to say the roads go back to their predecessor in interest if they've been opened to the public for more than five years. But that statute applied to county roads, and it stopped applying to the roads in question in 1890 when the relevant property was annexed and became part of the town. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Siddoway, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 38906-5-III, Categories: Municipal Law, Property
J. Fearing finds that the lower court properly declared as void a 2020 restrictive
covenant against two individuals that related to whether their homeowners association could amend its covenants to ban or regulate the use of a residence as a vacation rental. To arrive at a different conclusion would be to overrule a Supreme Court precedent, and being an intermediate appellate court, this court lacks that authority. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Fearing, Filed On: May 16, 2023, Case #: 39299-6-III, Categories: Property, Housing
J. Glasgow finds that the lower court improperly granted an order that unsealed juvenile court records. A sheriff's department asked for access to the records to help find a child that went missing, and while the lower court was within its right to provide those records, language in the order that sought to unseal them completely was improper. Those records were properly sealed under the law, and a series of other steps need to be taken before they can be unsealed. Reversed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Glasgow, Filed On: May 16, 2023, Case #: 56609-5-II, Categories: Juvenile Law
J. Hazelrigg finds that the lower court properly ordered a new trial after a jury found defendant guilty of manslaughter. The new trial was ordered as a result of prosecutorial misconduct during trial based on a prosecutor’s comments in cross-examination. It's widely agreed that trial courts have a high degree of deference and discretion in ordering a new trial based on the findings of the presiding judge that prejudice was injected into their trial. There is nothing that shows the judge went beyond that broad level of discretion. Affirmed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hazelrigg, Filed On: May 15, 2023, Case #: 83797-4-I, Categories: Fair Trial, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Manslaughter
J. Chung finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a Healthy Starts Act claim against a union from a woman who claims that the union and her employer did not properly accommodate her pregnancy. While a disparate impact claim was rightfully dismissed, the Healthy Starts Act claim was tossed too early because there are still questions as to whether her accommodation request could have been provided without "undue burden." Reversed in part.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chung, Filed On: May 15, 2023, Case #: 82907-6-I, Categories: Employment