Washington

Can Cop Get Emotional Distress Damages for Spit on Burger? 9th Circuit Seeks Wash. Opinion

A federal appeals court has asked the Washington Supreme Court for its opinion on whether state product liability law allows a police officer to recover emotional distress damages caused when he found a glob of spit on a Whopper. Sheriff’s Deputy Edward Bylsma of Clark County claims he checked out…

Jan 12, 2012 2:16 PM CST

Lawyer Says Wrong Name on Jury Verdict Form Means His Client Isn’t Guilty

Updated: A lawyer in Washington state has filed a motion seeking to overturn his client’s burglary conviction because the jury verdict form named a different defendant. Lawyer Gary Metro says in a motion that the Benton County verdict form carried the name of Anthony Joseph Speelman, an identity theft defendant…

Jan 11, 2012 11:59 AM CST

Seattle Sues Lawyer Who Requests Police Dash-Cam Videos

Updated: The city of Seattle filed suit (PDF) against an attorney for requesting copies of police dash-cam videos. Seattle lawyer James Egan learned of the suit Wednesday, after he had appealed the city’s earlier decision to reject his citizen’s request for 36 dash-cam videos that showed possible violations by Seattle…

Jan 5, 2012 5:50 PM CST

‘Astoundingly Critical’ DOJ Report Finds Widespread Use of Excessive Force by Seattle Police

Updated: Federal officials warned Seattle’s mayor and police chief at a closed-door meeting last night that the city must either correct officers’ widespread and routine use of excessive force or face a civil rights lawsuit. The U.S. Department of Justice has been looking into the city’s police force for nearly…

Dec 16, 2011 6:24 PM CST

Lawyer Tackles Theft Suspect, Holds Him for an ‘Awkward’ 20 Minutes

A Spokane lawyer who spotted a man inside his truck at about 6 a.m. last Friday morning took matters into his own hands. Brant Stevens chased the man, tackled him and held him until police arrived, report the Spokesman-Review and KHQ.com. Stevens managed to dial 911 while he was holding…

Dec 14, 2011 1:20 PM CST

Woman Stabbed at Anger Management Training Sues Company that Ran the Class

Luna Oraivej learned about the consequences of angry outbursts during an unintended lesson at her anger management training, a lawsuit contends. Oraivej, 37, was stabbed in the arms by a classmate who became enraged by a Dr. Phil video, according to Oraivej’s suit against the not-for-profit company that ran the…

Dec 7, 2011 1:16 PM CST

Denied Sign Interpreter, Deaf Man Wins DUI Reversal After Serving 9-Month Sentence

After a five-year appellate battle, a Washington state man has won a reversal of his drunken-driving conviction. Because William M. Kral, 33, is deaf and was not provided with a qualified sign-language interpreter, as required by state law, his Benton County District Court conviction will be overturned, the Tri-City Herald…

Dec 2, 2011 7:36 PM CST

Seattle Lawyer Who Allegedly Threatened to Kill Judge to Get 20 Months in Subsequent Home-Arson Case

A Washington attorney literally acting as his own jailhouse lawyer has struck a deal with prosecutors after allegedly setting fire to his own home earlier this year and violating a protective order concerning his estranged wife, a co-owner of the home who wasn’t present at the time of the fire.…

Nov 18, 2011 5:53 PM CST

Defendant Loses Right to a Lawyer After Allegedly Stabbing 3 of Them with Pencils or Pens in Court

Updated: A man has been convicted of drug charges after a judge in Washington state declared that pencil-and-pen-packing defendant Joshua Monson forfeited his right to counsel because of three attacks on his lawyers during court hearings. None of the lawyers was seriously hurt. In the first two incidents, which occurred…

Nov 2, 2011 11:55 AM CDT

Washington State Justices Find Horn-Honking Restrictions Violate Free Speech Rights

A Washington State woman who contended she had a free speech right to honk her horn outside the home of a neighbor has won her appeal before the state supreme court. The Washington Supreme Court ruled in an en banc opinion (PDF) last Thursday that horn-honking can constitute protected speech,…

Nov 1, 2011 2:56 PM CDT

Self-Proclaimed Superhero Is Unmasked in Court

Updated: A self-proclaimed crime-fighting superhero who calls himself Phoenix Jones was unmasked in court Thursday as a married 23-year-old Seattle-area man whose real name is Benjamin John Francis Fodor. Fodor appeared in court for a hearing following his arrest early Sunday on assault charges for allegedly pepper-spraying a group of…

Oct 14, 2011 8:35 PM CDT

Hertz Fires 34 Drivers at Seattle Airport, All Somali Muslims, for Praying on Company Time

Two years ago, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission helped unionized shuttle drivers for the Hertz rental car company work out a settlement under which they were allowed to clock out to pray during their two 10-minute breaks. But that clock-out policy was never enforced, the drivers, who work at Seattle-Tacoma…

Oct 7, 2011 11:21 PM CDT

Arrested in Seattle, Computer Security Expert Creates Searchable Website of Police Dashcam Video Log

Arrested three years ago in Seattle when a police officer apparently didn’t appreciate his “brainiac” attitude after he was questioned about swatting giant sponge golfballs from bar to bar during a pub crawl, a computer security expert has fought back bigtime. Once the obstruction case against him was dismissed, Eric…

Oct 6, 2011 12:44 AM CDT

Convicted Murderer’s Estate Seeks to Appeal, at State Expense, In Unusual Wash. Case

Traditionally, as in the case of Enron’s former chief executive, Kenneth Lay, criminal convictions in many jurisdictions have been abated if the defendant died before sentencing or while his appeal was still pending. But some doubt has been cast on whether that doctrine still applies in Washington, following a recent…

Sep 29, 2011 4:24 PM CDT

10 Years After Seattle Prosecutor’s Unsolved Slaying, AG and FBI Plan Ad Campaign Seeking New Leads

A reward of up to $1 million offered soon after a federal prosecutor was murdered in his Seattle home almost a decade ago hasn’t solved the case. So, as the 10th anniversary of the unsolved slaying of 49-year-old Thomas Wales nears, Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce a multimedia…

Sep 28, 2011 7:59 PM CDT