MADSEN, C.J. 1 Petitioner Jonathan Lee Gentry was sentenced to death and is currently residing in the intensive management unit (IMU) at the Washington State Penitentiary awaiting execution. Gentry challenges his current conditions of confinement as implemented by the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) in 2009, claiming he has been effectively placed in indefinite solitary confinement in violation of constitutional prohibitions against ex post facto punishment. Gentry requests...
ALEXANDER, J. 1 The question before us is this: How should the crime of bail jumping be classified for penalty purposes The Court of Appeals determined that the penalty classification for bail jumping is based on the classification of the offense the defendant was held for, charged with, or convicted of at the time he or she jumped bail. We affirm that decision. I 2 Nikeemia Coucil was charged in King County Superior Court with felony harassment, the charge arising from an incident on a...
ALEXANDER, J. 1 This case presents the following questions: (1) whether counsel for defendants in a personal injury action engaged in prohibited ex parte contact with a nonparty treating physician fact witness, per our decision in Loudon v. Mhyre, 110 Wn.2d 675 , 756 P.2d 138 (1988), by sending documents to the physician's counsel prior to the physician's testimony at trial, and (2) if that conduct is proscribed by Loudon, is the grant of a new trial the proper remedy for the...
OWENS, J. 1 This case concerns a challenge to the special education funding mechanism in Washington State. The School Districts' Alliance for Adequate Funding of Special Education (Alliance) argues that the Court of Appeals erred when it held that the State's procedures for funding special education do not violate the Washington Constitution. The Alliance argues that the Court of Appeals (1) used the wrong standard and (2) improperly included the Basic Education Allotment (BEA) in its...
SANDERS, J. 1 Shortly after police arrested Edward Gregoire (Gregoire), he displayed a range of unstable behavior, including thrashing violently, tussling with officers, crying, making irrational statements, and asking officers to shoot him. Roughly half an hour after transporting Gregoire to the Oak Harbor jail, officers found Gregoire hanging by his neck from a ventilation grate. Gregoire died soon thereafter. Tanya Gregoire (Ms. Gregoire), personal representative of Gregoire's estate,...
STEPHENS, J. 1 In this original action, the petitioners seek a writ of mandamus vacating two separate trial court orders, one that exempted from production under the Public Records Act (PRA), chapter 42.56 RCW, documents gathered during a criminal investigation and one that sealed trial exhibits generated during a subsequent criminal proceeding. Granting the writ, we vacate the orders. BACKGROUND 2 On November 29, 2009, Maurice Clemmons shot and killed four Lakewood police officers at a...
STEPHENS, J. 1 This case requires us to interpret the statutory language prohibiting sexual relations between a student and a school employee, former RCW 9A.44.093(1)(b) (2005). At issue is whether, under the statute, the term "minor" includes students between the ages of 18 and 21, or just those under 18. Also at issue is whether the statute is unconstitutionally vague or violates the defendant's right to equal protection. We reverse the Court of Appeals and hold that the statute at issue...
SANDERS, J. 1 We are asked to decide whether double jeopardy protection is violated where Shawn Francis pleaded guilty to felony murder of Jason Lucas, first degree attempted robbery of D'Ann Jacobsen, and the second degree assault of D'Ann Jacobsen, all arising from the same string of conduct. Because the State expressly relied on the second degree assault conduct to elevate the attempted robbery to the first degree when it charged the crimes, convictions on both charges violate double...
J.M. JOHNSON, J. 1 Humphrey Industries, Ltd., by means of its principal, George Humphrey (Humphrey), and with business partners Joseph and Ann Lee Rogel, Scott Rogel, and ABO Investments, by means of its principal, Gerald Ostroff, created Clay Street Associates, LLC (Clay Street), to hold a single real estate asset located in Auburn, Washington. In order to break a deadlock with Humphrey regarding the sale of the property in late 2004, the other members of Clay Street agreed to merge the...
FAIRHURST, J. 1 A fire ignited on the Seattle Monorail System's (Seattle Monorail) blue train in 2004. The monorail's private operating company, Seattle Monorail Services (SMS), suffered millions of dollars in losses. The question presented is whether SMS, which does not own the Seattle Monorail, can bring a tort action against LTK Consulting Services, Inc., an engineering firm that worked on monorail maintenance before the fire, for negligently causing the fire. LTK assumes, for the sake of...
FAIRHURST, J. 1 This case concerns the application of certain federal privacy laws to a request for information brought under the State's Public Records Act (PRA), chapter 42.56 RCW. The Washington State Office of the Attorney General (AGO) obtained loan files, e-mails, and other papers from Ameriquest Mortgage Company during its investigation of Ameriquest's lending practices. The AGO also generated its own documents and received other information directly from consumers who filed...
FAIRHURST, J. 1 Since the 1800s, lessors of real property in Washington have been able to recover damages for the tort of waste. In this case, however, the Court of Appeals interpreted our jurisprudence on the economic loss rule and concluded that lessor Linda Eastwood was limited to contractual remedies for the damage done to her horse farm by lessee Horse Harbor Foundation, Inc. See Eastwood v. Horse Harbor Found., Inc., noted at 144 Wn.App. 1009, 2008 WL 1801332. The Court of Appeals...
PER CURIAM. 1 At issue is whether Gary Werner was entitled to a jury instruction on self-defense in his prosecution for first degree assault after claiming he accidentally discharged a firearm when confronted by a pack of dogs. Under the facts of this case, we conclude he was and reverse his conviction. 2 Daniel Barnes moved to the real property next to Werner. Almost immediately, Werner and Barnes began an ongoing property dispute concerning a shared easement. Barnes had at least two...
CHAMBERS, J. 1 In 1998, this court held that under then-existing law, new private water rights did not fully vest until the water was put to a beneficial use, and not merely when the "pumps and pipes" capacity to use the water was built. Dep't of Ecology v. Theodoratus, 135 Wn.2d 582 , 586, 957 P.2d 1241 (1998). We cautioned then that we were not considering municipal water rights, which often receive separate treatment in water law. Id. at 594, 957 P.2d 1241 . In response to our...
SANDERS, J. 1 A Lummi Nation tribal police officer, while patrolling the reservation, witnessed a car drift across the center divider with its high-beam headlights activated. Did the officer have authority to pursue this vehicle across the reservation border and then detain the non-Indian driver on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI) until authorities with jurisdiction to arrest arrived This question is an extension of the issue we faced in State v. Schmuck, 121 Wn.2d 373 ,...
CHAMBERS, J. 1 Nathaniel Ish was convicted of second degree felony murder for the beating death of his girl friend, Katy Hall. Prior to trial, the Pierce County prosecutor's office entered into an agreement with Ish's jail cellmate, David Otterson, promising to recommend a reduced sentence for Otterson in another matter in exchange for Otterson's testimony against Ish. Among other things, the agreement provided that Otterson's testimony be truthful. During direct examination of Otterson, the...
ALEXANDER, J. 1 We granted Troy Dean Stubbs's petition to review a decision of the Court of Appeals in which that court affirmed an exceptional sentence that the trial court imposed on Stubbs for first degree assault. In sentencing Stubbs, the trial court relied on a jury finding that the "victim's injuries substantially exceed the level of bodily harm necessary to satisfy the elements of the offense." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 90. One of the elements, as set forth in the information charging...
ALEXANDER, J. 1 Swedish Health Services (Swedish) and the Washington State Department of Health (Department) seek review of a decision of the Court of Appeals, in which that court concluded that the Department used flawed methodology in determining that there was need for an additional ambulatory surgical facility (ASF) in East King County. 1 Swedish and the Department's principal argument is that the Court of Appeals did not accord sufficient deference to the Department's interpretation of...
MADSEN, C.J. 1 This case began with an automobile accident. The case was referred to mandatory arbitration, and the plaintiff, Lea Hudson, won a monetary award. Respondents (Hapner) requested a trial de novo under the Superior Court Mandatory Arbitration Rules (MAR). Hudson improved her position at trial, receiving a substantially greater award. Hapner successfully appealed, obtaining reversal and instructions for a new trial. Despite appellate success, Hapner moved in the trial court to...
SANDERS, J. 1 The question before this court is not whether Internet gambling, including playing poker on-line, should be illegal. That determination is reserved to the legislature, and the legislature addressed the issue by enacting and amending RCW 9.46.240, which criminalizes the knowing transmission and reception of gambling information by various means, including use of the Internet. Since sending and receiving gambling information is illegal, Internet gambling in the state of...
