WIGGINS , J. 1 Wayne Anthony Evans contends that Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) 12A.14.080 1 violates his right to bear arms under article I, section 24 of the Washington Constitution and the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution because the ordinance does not permit him to carry a small, fixed-blade "paring" knife for the purpose of self-defense. A jury convicted Evans of violating this ordinance, and both the superior court and the Court of Appeals affirmed. 2 We affirm...
FAIRHURST , J. 1 Michael J. Reeder appeals a published Court of Appeals decision affirming his conviction on 14 counts of securities fraud and 14 counts of theft in the first degree. We granted review of two issues. 2 First, Reeder claims that subpoenas duces tecum issued by a special inquiry judge (SIJ) 1 to financial institutions for Reeder's private bank records violated his constitutional rights under article I, section 7 of the Washington Constitution. Suspecting Reeder of...
JOHNSON , J. 1 This case involves two certified questions from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. First, we are asked to determine whether the Washington Consumer Protection Act (CPA), chapter 19.86 RCW, allows a cause of action for a plaintiff residing outside Washington to sue a Washington corporate defendant for allegedly deceptive acts. Second, we are asked to determine whether the CPA supports a cause of action for an out-of-state plaintiff to...
STEPHENS , J. 1 Petitioners William Ammons, Douglas Irvine, and Charles Wallace (Petitioners) petitioned to recall respondent Cowlitz County Public Utility District (PUD) Commissioner Edward M. Piper. Clerk's Papers (CP) at 8-13. At a hearing to determine the sufficiency of the allegations, Petitioners voluntarily withdrew the recall petition. Finding that the recall petition was frivolous and intentionally filed in bad faith, the superior court awarded Piper attorney fees. Petitioners...
WIGGINS , J. 1 The Department of Social and Health Services (Department) and Diana Farrow, the court appointed special advocate (CASA) for dependent minor M.H.P., appeal from an order of the King County Superior Court denying their motion to unseal several sets of motions and orders. The underlying documents at issue are motions filed by M.H.P.'s parents to obtain public funding for expert services in connection with proceedings to terminate their parental rights. The court granted...
WIGGINS , J. 1 This is an unlawful detainer action subject to the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA), chapter 59.20 RCW. At issue is whether a provision in a mobile home lot lease that purports to limit the landlord's ability to increase the rent when the lease renews conflicts with the MHLTA and whether the lease violates the statute of frauds. We hold that the provision is permissible under the MHLTA and that the writing and signatures on the lease satisfy the statute...
GONZ LEZ , J. 1 Zahid Khan was tried, without an interpreter, for multiple counts of child molestation and rape. Khan is not a native English speaker, and his level of English fluency is disputed. It is undisputed that he was not offered an interpreter by the court or by his attorney. Khan contends, among other things, that his trial was unfair and that his attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel by not securing an interpreter. Khan asks that we vacate his convictions. We...
MADSEN , C.J. 1 Appellants 1 seek reversal of a King County Superior Court order denying appellants' motion to enjoin the secretary of state from placing Initiative 1366 (I-1366) on the November 2015 general election ballot. On September 4, 2015, this court issued an order, with this opinion to follow, affirming the trial court's denial of appellants' motion for injunctive relief. 2 FACTS 2 Respondents 3 filed I-1366 in January 2015. As filed with the secretary of state, the...
OWENS , J. 1 The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires warrants to "particularly describ[e] the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." That requirement is heightened if the warrant authorizes a search for materials protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Stanford v. Texas, 379 U.S. 476 , 485, 85 S.Ct. 506, 13 L.Ed.2d 431 (1965). In this case, we are asked to evaluate a search warrant in a prosecution for...
MADSEN , C.J. 1 RCW 59.18.085 of the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 1973 (RLTA), which is intended to provide relocation assistance to tenants, does not allow recovery for emotional distress. The statute's plain language and its stated purpose compel this result. The trial court and the Court of Appeals were correct in so determining. We affirm. FACTS 2 Rogaciano and Raquel Cabrera bought a house in Pasco, Washington, in 2007. In 2011, they obtained a license from the city to...
GONZ LEZ , J. 1 It is a bedrock principle of constitutional law that "[n]o person shall . . . be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense." WASH. CONST. art. I, 9. In 2006, Mathew Moi was tried for the murder of Keith McGowan and for unlawful possession of the gun that killed McGowan. No physical evidence tied Moi to the gun, and perhaps because of that the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the murder charge. Based on the same evidence, Moi was acquitted of unlawful possession of...
STEPHENS , J. 1 In 2011, the legislature enacted the foreclosure fairness act (FFA), Laws of 2011, ch. 57, to amend the deeds of trust act (DTA), ch. 61.24 RCW. Under the FFA, the Department of Commerce (Department) administers a mediation program to encourage home loan modifications in lieu of foreclosures. In that program, a beneficiary of a deed of trust must mediate with a residential borrower before the borrower's home may be foreclosed. RCW 61.24.163. The FFA exempts from mediation...
WIGGINS , J. 1 In this case, the Citizens Alliance for Property Rights Legal Fund (CAPR) seeks to invalidate several ordinances passed by the governing council of San Juan County (County), alleging violations of Washington's Open Public Meetings Act of 1971, chapter 42.30 RCW (OPMA). Specifically, CAPR asserts that four ordinances passed as part of a state-mandated update of the County's critical area ordinances (CAO) should be voided because the ordinances had first been discussed by an...
MADSEN , C.J. 1 Darla Keck filed a medical malpractice case against doctors Chad Collins, DMD, and Patrick Collins, DDS (collectively the Doctors) after she experienced complications following sleep apnea surgery. Her claim focuses on the quality of treatment that she received postsurgery, which she alleges fell below the applicable standard of care. Generally in a medical malpractice claim, a plaintiff needs testimony from a medical expert to establish two required elements — standard...
STEPHENS , J. 1 Plaintiff Ericka Rickman brought this suit against her former employer, Premera Blue Cross, for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. Rickman alleges she was terminated in retaliation for raising concerns about potential violations of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Pub. L. No. 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936, and its Washington counterpart, the Uniform Health Care Information Act (UHCIA), ch. 70.02 RCW. The trial court...
JOHNSON , J. 1 This case involves the jeopardy element of the tort for wrongful discharge against public policy and whether the administrative remedies available under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 (STAA), 1 49 U.S.C. 31105, preclude Charles Rose from recovery under a common law tort claim. This is one of three concomitant cases 2 before us concerning the "adequacy of alternative remedies" component of the jeopardy element that some of our cases seemingly embrace....
JOHNSON , J. 1 This case involves the "jeopardy" element of the tort for wrongful discharge against public policy and whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), 18 U.S.C. 1514A, or the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), 15 U.S.C. 78u-6, bar Gregg Becker from recovery under the tort claim. This is one of three concomitant cases before us concerning the "adequacy of alternative remedies" component of the jeopardy element. See Rose v. Anderson...
STEPHENS , J. 1 Adrian Ozuna challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for intimidating a former witness. A person commits that crime if he "directs a threat" to a former witness because of the witness's role in an official proceeding. RCW 9A.72.110(2). The statute defines a "threat" to mean "[t]o communicate, directly or indirectly, the intent" to harm another in various ways. Id. at (3)(a)(i); see also id. at (3)(a)(ii) (incorporating a similar definition...
MADSEN , C.J. 1 This case concerns whether a debtor who has filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition may maintain a derivative action on behalf of a limited liability company (LLC), of which the debtor was a former member. The primary inquiry addresses the interplay of federal bankruptcy law and portions of the Washington Limited Liability Company Act (WALLCA), chapter 25.15 RCW, and whether the state provisions are superseded under the circumstances of this case; specifically, whether 11 U....
MADSEN , C.J. 1 This case is a direct review of a King County Superior Court decision that found certain portions of Initiative 1240 (I-1240) (Charter School Act or Act), codified at chapter 28A.710 RCW, unconstitutional but left the remainder of the Act standing. We hold that the provisions of I-1240 that designate and treat charter schools as common schools violate article IX, section 2 of our state constitution and are void. This includes the Act's funding provisions, which attempt to...
