Washington State Courts - Supreme Court Issue Summaries
Supreme Court Issues
May Term 2003
Administrative Law—Rulemaking—Judicial Review—“Ergonomics Rules”
Whether the Department of Labor and Industries exceeded its authority or failed to comply with appropriate rulemaking procedures in the promulgation of rules meant “to reduce employee exposure to specific workplace hazards that can cause or aggravate work-related musculoskeletal disorders.” WAC 296-62-051.
No. 73020-2, Washington Employers Concerned About Regulating Ergonomics (appellant) v. Dep’t of L&I (respondent). (5/22/03)
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Adoption—Standing—Grandparents—Dependent Child—Grandparent Preference
Whether, following termination of parental rights to a child, the child’s grandparents have standing to petition for the child’s adoption and should be given preference in the adoption decision.
No. 72809-7, In re Adoption of B.T., Dorothy & Gary Avery (respondents); State (petitioner). (5/13/03)
112 Wn. App. 143 (2002)
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Bankruptcy—Assets—Insurance Proceeds—Defenses Against Debtor
Whether a bankruptcy trustee who left the debtor corporation in possession can recover insurance proceeds for a fire at the debtor’s premises when the debtor could not do so because the fire was intentionally caused by a corporate officer.
No. 72817-8, American States Ins. Co. (respondent) v. Symes of Silverdale, Inc. (defendant); Ellis (petitioner). (5/22/03)
111 Wn. App. 477 (2002)
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Constitutional Law—Freedom of Speech—Political Speech—Government Restriction—Public Employees
Whether guidelines of the Public Disclosure Commission, regulating political campaign activities by public school employees on school property, violate employees’ constitutional free speech rights.
No. 72877-1, Washington Educ. Ass’n (respondent) v. Washington State Public Disclosure Comm’n (appellant). (6/24/03)
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Constitutional Law—Freedom of Speech—Time, Place, & Manner Restrictions—Traditional Public Forum—Municipal-Owned Utility Poles
Whether a Seattle ordinance prohibiting the posting of signs on city-owned property violates free speech guarantees of the Washington Constitution to the extent it bars postings on utility poles along city streets and sidewalks.
No. 73005-9, City of Seattle (petitioner) v. Mighty Movers, Inc. (respondent). (6/12/03)
112 Wn. App. 904 (2002)
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Contracts—Construction Contracts—Changed Conditions—Notice Procedures
Whether claims for additional compensation under a county public works contract should be barred because of the contractor’s failure to follow contract procedures for making such claims, notwithstanding the county’s actual notice of the claims.
No. 72900-0, Mike M. Johnson, Inc. (respondent) v. Spokane County (petitioner). (6/10/03)
112 Wn. App. 462 (2002)
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Criminal Law—Aggravated First Degree Murder—Aggravating Circumstance—Killing Prospective Witness
Whether the aggravating circumstance of killing a prospective witness applies when the defendant was not a party to the proceedings in which the victim was going to testify.
No. 72956-5, State (respondent) v. Goldberg (petitioner); In re Personal Restraint Petition of Goldberg, Morris Goldberg (petitioner); State (respondent). (5/20/03)
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Criminal Law—Assault—Self-Defense—Duty to Retreat
Whether the trial court in this assault prosecution erred by refusing to instruct the jury that the defendant had no duty to retreat, when the jury could have concluded that retreat was a reasonable alternative to the use of force in self-defense.
No. 72910-7, State (respondent) v. Redmond (petitioner). (5/13/03)
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Criminal Law—Duress—Availability of Defense—Attempted Murder
Whether duress can be a defense to a charge of attempted first degree murder.
No. 72811-9, State (respondent) v. Mannering (petitioner). (6/10/03)
112 Wn. App. 268 (2002)
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Criminal Law—Evidence—Expert Testimony—Eye Witness Identification
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by excluding expert testimony about eye witness identification, when identification was the prime issue and the defendant offered an alibi defense.
No. 73079-2, State (respondent) v. Cheatam (petitioner) (see also Criminal Law—Search & Seizure—Warrantless Search). (6/26/03)
112 Wn. App. 778 (2002) — published in part
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Criminal Law—Evidence—Other Offenses or Acts—Common Scheme or Plan
Whether, in order to admit evidence of prior acts to show a common scheme or plan, those acts and the charged crime must share features that are unique or uncommon.
No. 72819-4, State (respondent) v. DeVincentis (petitioner). (5/13/03)
112 Wn. App. 152 (2002)
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Criminal Law—Evidence—Statement of Child Victim—Hearsay—Right of Confrontation
Whether the admission of child hearsay statements violated the defendant’s right of confrontation when the child witness, although she testified, followed the prosecutor’s advisement that she could decline to talk about the alleged incidents.
No. 72588-8, In re Personal Restraint Petition of Grasso, Vincent Grasso (petitioner); State (respondent). (5/22/03)
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Criminal Law—Ex Post Facto Law—Punishment—What Constitutes—Limiting Eligibility for Reduced Imprisonment
Whether a prison rule, imposing loss of early release credits for an inmate’s refusal to participate in an anger management program when required to do so by a prison counselor, constitutes a prohibited ex post facto law as to prisoners incarcerated before the rule was enacted.
No. 73381-3, In re Personal Restraint Petition of Forbis, Steven Forbis (respondent); State (petitioner). (6/12/03)
113 Wn. App. 822 (2002)
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Criminal Law—Homicide by Abuse—Sufficiency of Evidence—Accomplice Liability
Whether, in this prosecution for homicide by abuse (which requires proof of both a present homicide and prior abuse), the evidence was sufficient as to both defendants, and whether an erroneous accomplice liability instruction was harmless.
No. 71616-1, State (respondent) v. Berube (petitioner); State (respondent) v. Nielsen (petitioner). (5/20/03)
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Criminal Law—Lesser Included Offense—Instruction—Necessity
Whether the trial court should instruct the jury on a lesser included offense if the defendant’s evidence supports the inference that the lesser crime was committed but does not directly negate the elements of the charged offense.
No. 72975-1, State (respondent) v. Porter (petitioner). (6/24/03)
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Criminal Law—Postconviction Relief—Timeliness—Filing—Pro Se Incarcerated Offender—Mailbox Rule
Whether personal restraint petitions and postconviction motions by pro se prisoners should be considered “filed” when deposited in the prison mailing system.
No. 73565-4 (cons. w/73775-4), In re Personal Restraint Petition of Carlstad, Monti Carlstad (petitioner); State (respondent), State (respondent) v. McLean (petitioner). (6/26/03)
114 Wn. App. 447 (2002) — Carlstad
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Criminal Law—Right to Counsel—Conflict of Interest
Whether the trial court failed to adequately inquire into a potential conflict of interest arising from the defendant’s attorney’s concurrent representation of several trial witnesses in a separate civil matter.
No. 73220-5, State (respondent) v. Dhaliwal (petitioner). (5/15/03)
113 Wn. App. 226 (2002)
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Criminal Law—Search & Seizure—Arrest—Entry Into Home
Whether a police officer serving a support enforcement warrant on the defendant was justified by the “knock and wait” statute, RCW 10.31.040, in opening the door of his trailer, and whether the officer’s later entry into the home to retrieve the jacket of the defendant’s friend was justified by the “community caretaking” function.
No. 72997-2, State (respondent) v. Thompson (petitioner). (6/10/03)
112 Wn. App. 787 (2002)
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Criminal Law—Search & Seizure—Global Positioning System Tracking Device—Warrant—Probable Cause
Whether the police must establish probable cause and obtain a warrant before attaching a global positioning system device to a vehicle in order to track the movements of its owner.
No. 72799-6, State (respondent) v. Jackson (petitioner). (5/20/03)
111 Wn. App. 660 (2002)
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Criminal Law—Search & Seizure—Warrantless Search—Jail Inmate’s Property
Whether police need a warrant to use an inmate’s personal possessions, held in the jail’s property room, to investigate a crime other than that for which the inmate is in jail.
No. 73079-2, State (respondent) v. Cheatam (petitioner) (see also Criminal Law—Evidence—Expert Testimony). (6/26/03)
112 Wn. App. 778 (2002) — published in part
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Criminal Law—Trial—Presence of Defendant—Waiver
Whether a criminal defendant who was arrested on an unrelated charge while on his way to his ongoing trial was voluntarily absent from trial, so that the trial properly continued in his absence.
No. 72959-0, State (respondent) v. Garza (petitioner). (5/15/03)
112 Wn. App. 312 (2002)
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Criminal Law—Trial—Verdict—Consistency
Whether the defendant’s conviction must be reversed because a special verdict conflicts with the general verdict on the same charge.
No. 73177-2, State (respondent) v. Goins (petitioner). (6/26/03)
113 Wn. App. 723 (2002)
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Insurance—Automobile Insurance—Construction of Policy—“Using” Vehicle
Whether a driver who was killed when he got out of his car to go to the aid of a person trapped inside an overturned truck was “using” either vehicle, for purposes of the underinsured motorist provisions of the policies covering the vehicles.
No. 72807-1, Butzberger (petitioner) v. Foster (defendant), Allstate Ins. Co. (petitioner), T.H.E. Ins. Co. (respondent). (5/6/03)
112 Wn. App. 81 (2002)
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Insurance—Good Faith—Insurer’s Bad Faith—Failure to Disclose Policy Limits to Third Party
Whether an insurer breached the duty of good faith that it owed to its insured by not complying with a third-party claimant’s demand, made before any lawsuit was filed, for the disclosure of the insured’s policy limits.
No. 73299-0, Smith (petitioner) v. Safeco Ins. Co. (respondent). (5/22/03)
112 Wn. App. 645 (2002)
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Insurance—Health Care Insurance—Sex Discrimination
Whether a health care service contractor’s failure to provide coverage for all methods of prescription contraception approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration constituted sex discrimination in violation of RCW 48.43.018(3) or RCW 48.43.035(1).
No. 73415-1, Glaubach (plaintiff) v. Regence Blueshield (defendant). (5/6/03)
Certification from U.S. District Court, Western District of Wash.
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Insurance—Liability Insurance—Cancellation of “Claims-Made” Policy—Validity
Whether a hospital’s cancellation of “claims-made” insurance policies that would have covered the hospital’s liability to a patient for a pre-cancellation injury was a retroactive annulment of insurance prohibited by RCW 48.18.320 or by public policy.
No. 73412-7, American Continental Ins. Co. (plaintiff) v. Steen (defendant). (5/6/03)
Certification from U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
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Intoxicating Liquors—Providing Liquor—Standard for Civil Liability—Violation of Statute—Apparently Intoxicated Person
Whether RCW 66.44.200(1), which prohibits the sale of alcohol to “any person apparently under the influence of liquor,” establishes a standard of liability in civil actions for damages caused by intoxicated drivers.
No. 72984-1, Barrett (petitioner) v. Lucky 7 Saloon, Inc. (respondent); Barrett (petitioner) v. Lucky Seven Saloon, Inc. (respondent). (5/15/03)
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Judges—Disqualification—Affidavit of Prejudice—Timeliness
Whether an affidavit of prejudice against a judge in a one-judge county is untimely when filed after the case is set for trial, even though the judge has made no discretionary rulings and the defendant has waived his speedy trial rights.
No. 72918-2, State (respondent) v. Tarabochia (petitioner). (6/24/03)
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Juries—Juror Misconduct—Extrinsic Evidence
Whether, in this medical malpractice action, a juror wrongfully introduced extrinsic evidence into jury deliberations by arguing the professional standard of care based on treatment his wife received in circumstances he considered similar to this case.
No. 73481-0, Breckenridge (petitioner) v. Valley Gen. Hosp. (respondent). (6/12/03)
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Jurisdiction—Venue—Industrial Insurance Appeal to Superior Court—Statutory Provisions
Whether RCW 51.52.110, which requires that an appeal to superior court of a decision of the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals be filed in the county where the industrial injury occurred or the worker resides, is a jurisdictional statute or a venue statute.
No. 72958-1, Dougherty (petitioner) v. Dep’t of Labor & Indus. (respondent). (5/15/03)
112 Wn. App. 322 (2002)
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Juveniles—Juvenile Justice—Capacity to Commit Crime
Whether this eleven-year-old had the capacity to commit first degree rape of a child, given ambiguous evidence whether he understood that it was wrong to have consensual sexual relations with other young children.
No. 72816-0, State (respondent) v. Ramer (petitioner). (scheduled for 9/11/03)
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Municipal Corporations—Intergovernmental Services—Streetlighting—Liability for Payment
Whether a city may legally shift the cost of operating streetlights from its general fund to the city’s electrical utility and its customers.
No. 73227-2 (cons. w/73228-1), Okeson (appellant) v. City of Seattle (respondent); City of Seattle (respondent) v. Sonntag (respondent), Okeson (intervenor). (5/20/03)
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Municipal Corporations—Voter-Adopted Ordinances—Implementation—Deviation from Voters Pamphlet
Whether a voter-approved proposition for construction of a municipal light-rail project authorized the transit agency to scale back the project for financial reasons without further voter approval.
No. 73413-5, Sane Transit (appellant) v. Sound Transit (respondent). (6/10/03)
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Prisons—Release of Inmate—Mistaken Release—Credit for Time at Liberty—Entitlement
Whether a prisoner who is mistakenly released and later returned to prison is entitled to credit against his or her sentence for time spent at liberty.
No. 73374-1, In re Personal Restraint Petition of Roach, Michael Roach (petitioner); State (respondent). (5/13/03)
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Statutes—Initiatives—Validity—Constitutional Limitations
Whether Initiative 776, which repealed certain taxes and fees and established a $30 annual license tab fee, is unconstitutional because it violates single subject and ballot title rules or because it impairs county bond obligations.
No. 73607-3, Pierce County (respondent) v. State (appellant). (6/26/03) |
