Gonz lez , J. 1 It is generally not murder to kill another in self-defense. It may not be murder — though it is often a serious crime — to kill another by accident. Michael Henderson shot and killed Abubakar Abdi during an argument. Henderson was charged with felony murder based on second degree assault with a deadly weapon. Henderson contended that while acting in self-defense, he accidentally killed Abdi. The jury was instructed on the defense of justifiable homicide. The trial...
OWENS , J. 1 This case asks us to determine the geographic scope of permitting authority delegated to the State of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) over hydraulic projects. A "hydraulic project" is defined as "the construction or performance of work that will use, divert, obstruct, or change the natural flow or bed of any of the salt or freshwaters of the state." RCW 77.55.011(11). Entities seeking to undertake hydraulic projects must apply for and obtain permits...
STEPHENS , J. 1 This case presents a question of first impression: whether Washington should adopt the so-called "apparent manufacturer" doctrine for common law product liability claims predating the 1981 product liability and tort reform act (WPLA), ch. 7.72 RCW. As set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Torts 400 (Am. Law Inst. 1965), this doctrine provides that "[o]ne who puts out as his own product a chattel manufactured by another is subject to the same liability as though he...
GORDON McCLOUD , J. 1 The city of Olympia (City) contracted with NOVA Contracting Inc. to replace a deteriorating culvert. Their contract contained a "notice of protest" provision, standard specification section 1-04.5 (Section 1-04.5), taken from the Washington State Department of Transportation's Standard Specifications for Road, Bridge, and Municipal Construction (2012), www.wsdot.wa.gov/publications/manuals/fulltext/M41-10/ss2012.pdf [https://perma.cc./77X9-Z593]. See Clerk's...
JOHNSON , J. 1 In this case, we are asked to decide whether Department of Ecology's current waste discharge permitting process complies with RCW 90.48.520's requirement for "permit conditions [to] require all known, available, and reasonable methods to control toxicants in the applicant's wastewater." (Emphasis added.) No disagreement exists that Ecology uses the most sensitive testing method federally approved to monitor permit compliance. The issue in this case is whether RCW 90.48....
GORDON McCLOUD , J. 1 The Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), chapter 36.70C RCW, bars parties from challenging a local land use decision in state court if the parties fail to exhaust the administrative process. RCW 36.70C.030. The central issue in this case is (1) whether that administrative exhaustion rule applies to all tort claims that arise during the land use decision-making process. The other issues are (2) whether there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding of a...
MADSEN , J. 1 Kevin Light-Roth was convicted of second degree murder in 2004, and the trial court sentenced him to 335 months' confinement. In an untimely personal restraint petition (PRP), Light-Roth argued that State v. O'Dell, 183 Wn.2d 680 , 358 P.3d 359 (2015), constitutes a significant and material change in the law that applies retroactively to his sentence, excepting him from RCW 10.73.100's time bar. In O'Dell, this court held while "age is not a per se mitigating...
JOHNSON , J. 1 This case involves review of a trial court "to convict" attempted first degree robbery instruction. Petitioner Edward Nelson contends that the State had to prove that the employee he was attempting to rob had ownership, representative, or possessory interest in the property. For this proposition he relies on the holding in State v. Richie 1 and argues that this "essential element" of representative or possessory interest should have been included in the "to convict"...
WIGGINS , J. 1 We decide here two important aspects of the work product doctrine. First, were the e-mails exchanged between the Kittitas County and the Department of Ecology work product Second, if the e-mails are work product, are they discoverable under the Public Records Act (PRA), chapter 42.56 RCW We hold that the e-mails are work product because they were prepared by or for Kittitas County in anticipation of litigation. Second, we hold that Kittitas County did not waive its...
YU , J. 1 The Washington Minimum Wage Act (MWA), chapter 49.46 RCW, requires employers to compensate employees for their work. This case asks us to apply that general principle to the specific context of agricultural workers who are paid on a piece-rate basis for piece-rate picking work by answering the following two questions, which were certified to us by Judge Mendoza of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington: A. Does Washington law require...
MADSEN , J. 1 This case addresses the adequacy of the parole remedy available under ROW 9.94A.730, the Miller 1 "fix" statute. Consistent with the Supreme Court's decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana, ___ U.S. ___, 136 S.Ct. 718 , 193 L.Ed. 2d 599 (2016), we hold that RCW 9.94A.730's parole provision is an adequate remedy for a Miller violation, rendering unnecessary the resentencing of a defendant who long ago received a de facto life sentence as a juvenile. FACTS 2 Jai'Mar...
YU , J. 1 The issue in this case is whether the duration of a domestic violence (DV) no-contact order entered by a court of limited jurisdiction is limited to the length of the underlying suspended sentence. The State appeals a published Court of Appeals decision that vacated a no-contact order and held that the district court lacked authority pursuant to RCW 10.99.050 to enter a no-contact order exceeding the duration of the underlying sentence. State v. Granath, 200 Wn.App. 26, 401...
Gonz lez , J. 1 Petitioner Chelan Basin Conservancy (Conservancy) seeks the removal of six acres of fill material that respondent GBI Holding Company added to its property in 1961 to keep the formerly dry property permanently above the artificially raised seasonal water fluctuations of Lake Chelan. The Conservancy brings this action more than 50 years later pursuant to Washington's public trust doctrine, which protects the public right to use water in place along navigable waterways. At...
JOHNSON , J. 1 This case involves interpretation of chapter 7.90 RCW, the Sexual Assault Protection Order (SAPO) Act (SAPO Act). The statute establishes a special proceeding for a victim of sexual assault to obtain a civil protection order. The procedure for a SAPO is as follows: A victim of sexual assault files a petition with the court. RCW 7.90.040(1). Under the statute, the petition contains two requirements: (1) an allegation of "the existence of nonconsensual sexual conduct or...
