Washington Supreme Court Decisions 2024

Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2006, Timothy Kelly was convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and other burglary-related offenses. His offender scores for these offenses ranged from 11 to 14 points. Later, in November 2006,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Anthony Vasquez was convicted of multiple offenses, including aggravated first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, and tampering with a witness, for shooting and killing Juan Garcia in 2013. Vasquez was…

Justia Opinion Summary: Centene Corporation’s subsidiaries, Envolve Pharmacy Solutions and Coordinated Care, administer health insurance benefits in Washington under a state contract. Coordinated Care collects premiums from consumers and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2011, 17-year-old Darren Harris fatally stabbed an acquaintance and stole his wallet. Harris was charged with first-degree murder with a deadly weapon. After negotiations, Harris pleaded guilty to second-degree murder…

Justia Opinion Summary: Charles Scott Frazier was convicted of murder and arson against his father in 1989 and received a 50-year exceptional sentence. Nearly 30 years later, Frazier sought resentencing, citing new scientific evidence on…

Justia Opinion Summary: On June 3, 2017, Deputy Alexander Hawley of the King County Sheriff’s Office conducted an illegal stop of Malcolm Otha McGee, suspecting a drug transaction. During the stop, Hawley obtained McGee’s identity, phone…

Justia Opinion Summary: A group of 16 related LLCs, which generate all their income from investments in distressed debt instruments, sought a refund for business and occupation (B&O) taxes paid, claiming their income was deductible as…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jim Walsh, a member of the Washington State House of Representatives, along with other appellants, submitted six initiatives to the legislature. Three of these initiatives were enacted, while the remaining…

Justia Opinion Summary: Lorna Smith, an appointed member of the Washington Fish and Wildlife (WFW) Commission, also held an appointed position on the Jefferson County Planning Commission. The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, along with…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves five initiatives submitted to the Washington State legislature in 2024. The Secretary of State reviewed the signatures on the petitions for these initiatives and determined that there were enough valid…

Justia Opinion Summary: King County Ordinance 19030 altered zoning and business licensing regulations for wineries, breweries, and distilleries (WBDs) in agricultural and rural areas. The ordinance aimed to support economic development but…

Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Sammamish passed an ordinance to condemn property rights in George Davis Creek, which runs through the petitioners' property, for stormwater management and fish passage protection. The city aimed to address…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003 and 2006, Christopher Lee Olsen pleaded guilty to several offenses, including unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Following the Washington Supreme Court's decision in State v. Blake, which declared the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2003, Nicole Willyard pleaded guilty to three charges in two separate cases: obstruction, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, and bail jumping. The bail jumping charge was due to her failure to appear for a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Nathan Scott Smith was charged with first-degree rape of a child. During jury selection, Smith sought to remove three potential jurors for cause, including one who expressed that she might agree with other jurors if she…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) identified nitrogen pollution from wastewater treatment plants as a significant issue for Puget Sound. The Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA) petitioned Ecology…

Justia Opinion Summary: A child, Baby Boy B (BBB), was removed from his mother, JB, shortly after birth and placed in shelter care with his maternal grandmother. The King County Superior Court held shelter care hearings in April, May, and June,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Clifford Porter and Peggy Huckstadt were married from 1977 to 1994, during which Porter served in the military. Upon their divorce, the trial court awarded Huckstadt a fractional share of Porter’s military retirement…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a mother, Heather, who moved with her three children from Minnesota to Washington to escape domestic violence. After their arrival, the family experienced intermittent homelessness, and the children…

Justia Opinion Summary: Cody Hart filed a petition to recall Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney Richard A. Weyrich, Skagit County Auditor Sandra F. Perkins, and Skagit County Sheriff Donald L. McDermott. Hart alleged that the officials vacated…

Justia Opinion Summary: The plaintiffs, a group of consumers, filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon.com, Inc., alleging that the company violated Washington's Consumer Protection Act (CPA) by charging grossly inflated prices for essential…

Justia Opinion Summary: Marina Palomarez and Matthew Wilcox were married for over 20 years before separating in 2015 and finalizing their divorce in 2019. During their marriage, they lived a middle-class lifestyle, raising two children and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Adelina Gabriela Suarez, a nondenominational Christian, was employed by Yakima Valley School, a nursing facility operated by the State of Washington. Suarez requested Saturdays off to observe her Sabbath and additional…

Justia Opinion Summary: Olajide Adel Fletcher was sentenced based on an offender score that erroneously included two prior juvenile adjudications, resulting in a higher standard sentence range. This miscalculation was evident on the face of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: A trial court found that Yakima HMA LLC wrongfully withheld nearly $1.5 million in wages from its nurses over five years. In 2015, the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA) filed a claim on behalf of 28 nurses,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around Jack Potter, a man who lived in a 23-foot travel trailer hitched to his truck, which he parked on public lots and streets in the city of Lacey, Washington. In 2019, the city passed an ordinance…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Washington State Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the city of Sunnyside and several of its officials, alleging that the city's crime-free rental housing program (CFRHP) was being used to evict tenants without…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around the issue of whether a criminal defendant can be required to appear for nonjury proceedings from an "in-court holding cell" without an individualized inquiry justifying such a restraint. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of Washington State reviewed two cases involving individuals, Kimonti Dennis Carter and Shawn Dee Reite, who were originally sentenced to mandatory life without parole (LWOP) for aggravated first-degree…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the early 20th century, Jim Wallahee, a citizen of the Yakama Nation, was convicted for illegal hunting when he killed a deer on ceded Yakama land. The Yakama Nation had signed a treaty with the United States…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2021, Lyra Jean Spencer filed a personal injury lawsuit against Franklin Hills Health-Spokane LLC. To serve the summons, her attorney hired a process server who, after learning that the registered agent was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Andrew Bertrand, who was convicted of two counts of first-degree child molestation. Bertrand argued that his counsel was ineffective for failing to propose lesser included offense instructions on…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves an action filed by Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Lawrence Haskell against Jilma Meneses, the secretary of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS). The Prosecutor…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around the death of a patient, Cindy Essex, who visited Samaritan Hospital's emergency room due to severe shoulder pain. The doctors, who were not employees of the hospital but independent contractors,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around Terry Cousins' efforts to obtain public records related to her sister, who died while in the custody of the Department of Corrections (DOC). Cousins alleged that the DOC's response to her public…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around the Benton County Water Conservancy Board (the Board) and the Washington State Department of Ecology (the Department). The Department primarily manages the state's water resources, while the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves AURC III LLC, an Oregon limited liability company, and several Washington and Delaware limited liability companies collectively referred to as Point Ruston. Point Ruston purchased a 97-acre former…

Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2020, Austin River Keller drove his car into a ditch and subsequently failed a breath alcohol test. The Kitsap County District Court suppressed the breath alcohol test results produced from the Dräger Alcotest…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Washington considered whether the State's 12-year delay in bringing charges against John Ray Stearns, despite having matched his DNA to a murder victim in 2004, violated his due process…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2016 and 2021, Steven Buck was convicted of felony failure to register as a sex offender and sentenced to prison terms followed by mandatory 36 months of community custody. The trial court ran Buck’s 2021 community…

Justia Opinion Summary: A dispute arose between the Gardens Condominium (a Washington nonprofit corporation) and Farmers Insurance Exchange (a California company) over the interpretation of a resulting loss exception in an all-risk insurance…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case from the Supreme Court of the State of Washington, several construction industry associations challenged a 2018 law (RCW 39.12.015(3)) that changed the method for determining prevailing wage rates on public…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Washington was required to make a decision on a case involving a high school student, M.G., who was expelled on an emergency basis by Yakima School District No. 7 (the District). The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Washington heard a case involving Assurance Wireless USA LP, a telecommunications company that provides wireless services to low-income consumers as part of the federal "Lifeline"…

Justia Opinion Summary: The petitioner, Ricky Arntsen, was convicted of several crimes including second degree assault with a deadly weapon following a road rage incident where he forced another driver, Kim Koenig, to stop her car and then…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a dispute between Dr. Stan Schiff and Liberty Mutual Insurance Companies. Dr. Schiff, on behalf of himself and a class of similarly situated providers, claimed that Liberty Mutual's practice of reducing…

Justia Opinion Summary: In "King County v. Michael J. Abernathy et al.", the Supreme Court of the State of Washington answered a question certified by the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. The case involved a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case before the Supreme Court of the State of Washington, a consortium of over 130 institutions of higher education sued a group of 16 insurance carriers for denying their COVID-19 related claims. The insurance…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the State of Washington, two brothers, Alejandro S. Martinez and Eduardo S. Martinez, were charged with separate counts of sexually abusing their younger stepbrothers in their shared family home. The State of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington was asked to consider a class action suit brought by patients against MultiCare Health System, Inc., a Washington corporation that operates Good Samaritan…

Justia Opinion Summary: In Washington State, a second-tier subcontractor, Velazquez Framing LLC, was not paid for the work it did on property owned by Cascadia Homes Inc., a general contracting company. High End Construction LLC, who had been…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Washington found that the initiation fees charged by Royal Oaks Country Club, a nonprofit corporation, are fully deductible from the business and occupation (B&O) tax under RCW…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of the State of Washington considered two questions certified by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding a university's duty of care towards its students. The plaintiff, a…