Tag Archives: courts

Seattle defends queer nude beach against legal bid to close Denny Blaine Park — ‘Nudity alone at Denny Blaine is also not a nuisance’

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Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison is a champion of nudity in Denny Blaine Park.

In the city’s response to a June legal thrust from the Denny Blaine for All neighbor group to immediately close the park to the public, Davis has told the King County Superior Court that the popular hangout on the shores of Lake Washington east of Capitol Hill should remain open and free.

“Allowing Denny Blaine Park to continue as a nude queer space has social utility,” Davison writes.

“Nudity is subject to City regulation, and the City has determined that not regulating public nudity at Denny Blaine is in the public interest. Based on this decision, nudity alone at Denny Blaine is also not a nuisance.” Continue reading →

Cal Anderson protest: No charges (yet), Parks says nope to August, FBI threat, and ‘mostly silent’ vigil planned outside Seattle church

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The Seattle Police Department has referred one case to prosecutors out of the 23 people arrested in the Saturday, May 24th counter-demonstration against an anti-trans and reproductive rights Christian rally in Cal Anderson Park while city officials have been loud and clear that another rally planned for August won’t take place on Capitol Hill.

Meanwhile, a vigil is being planned for Sunday outside one of the Seattle churches behind the provocative events. Continue reading →

Amarr Murphy-Paine family sues over deadly Garfield High School shooting

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The family of Amarr Murphy-Paine, the 17-year-old shot and killed in the Garfield High parking lot in the final weeks of last school year, is suing the school district alleging officials were negligent in their security practices at the 23rd Ave school.

An attorney for the family told KUOW the suit focuses on the district’s “failure to adequately respond, the failure to have adequate security, the failure to protect students in general, and our clients’ son in particular.”

The June 2024 deadly shooting was a “foreseeable outcome” of the school’s “open campus” policies and “inadequate security measures in a neighborhood with a history of gun violence,” the suit reads. Continue reading →

A year later, court proceedings continue in Capitol Hill Station fatal stabbing case

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Bellett

Court proceedings continue a year after the fatal stabbing of Corey Bellett on the busy light rail platform of Capitol Hill Station,

A planned June trial start seems unlikely.

In the most recent hearing in the case, the court heard that new counsel has not yet been assigned to represent defendant Shawn Patrick Moore who is accused of stabbing Bellett to death in a Saturday, May 11th, 2024 fight over a run-in on the crowded station escalator.

The hearing over the change in counsel in April due to a new conflict of interest for his public legal team was the latest step in a long path to justice in the case.

It followed a significant attempt to bring the case to a sudden halt earlier this spring. Continue reading →

Seattle City Attorney launches misdemeanor ‘Drug Prosecution Alternative’

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The election year rush of new programs and public safety initiatives will include a push from City Attorney Ann Davison to establish a new “Drug Prosecution Alternative” her office says will provide “an incentive for defendants arrested for drug use and possession to connect with services and commit no new law violations to have their drug cases dismissed.”

The new program comes as Davison mounts her reelection campaign as drug cases in the city “spiked in Q1 2024” and have continued at a high “approximate average of about 25 to 35 cases a month.”

The plan calls for Davison’s office to refer people arrested for misdemeanor drug offenses to the Seattle Municipal Court Resource Center. If they agree to “participate in substance use assessment,” complete a drug test, and accept a Stay Out of Drug Area” court order, plus have no criminal violations for a 60-day period, subjects can avoid prosecution. Continue reading →

Neighborhood group takes city to court over ‘sweeping changes’ in Seattle growth plan

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District 3 representative and chair of the Seattle City Council’s comprehensive growth plan special committee Joy Hollingsworth is facing another legal hurdle in efforts to deliver a new 20-year development plan for the city as an influential neighborhood group from outside her district is suing to put a halt to the process.

The Friends of Ravenna-Cowen group filed a petition last week for a “writ of review” calling on the King County Superior Court to intervene and reverse the city Hearing Examiner’s recent dismissal of appeals against the growth proposals.

In the suit, the group says the comprehensive plan proposal being moved forward by Mayor Bruce Harrell and Hollingsworth is too aggressive and requires more environmental review.

“This level of growth is not achievable without sweeping changes to Seattle’s zoning code to permit widespread construction of 5-6-story apartment buildings throughout the City, including in historically significant neighborhoods,” the suit reads.

Petitioners Friends of Ravenna-Cowen and resident John Cary are represented by Seattle legal firm Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger PLLC.

The lawsuit follows the Hearing Examiner’s dismissal of a raft of appeals from neighborhood groups earlier this month including cases representing Madison Valley, Mount Baker, Hawthorne Hills, and “73 remaining Southern resident killer whales.” A state “safe harbor” law that exempts actions taken by local governments to increase housing capacity from appeals under the State Environmental Policy Act played a key role. Continue reading →

Defendant in Jonny Adamow murder case pleads not guilty

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From the SPD report on the investigation

The man charged with first degree murder in the deadly December 31st shooting of Jonny Adamow at Broadway and Pike has pleaded not guilty.

Charles Hickman appeared in court Wednesday to answer to the charge.

CHS reported here on his arrest earlier this month as police said they had evidence and eyewitnesses placing Hickman at the scene and proving he was the gunman captured on security video firing from behind an E Pike utility pole in the deadly late night ambush. Police say Hickman was targeting another person at the busy intersection when he fired off 10 rounds. One hit Adamow who died of a gunshot wound in the back.

At Wednesday’s plea hearing, lawyers for Hickman convinced the judge in the case to bar photography or video showing the defendant’s face claiming that media coverage could bias potential jurors. In the motion, Hickman’s legal team says the defendant was arrested, in part, thanks to media coverage of the December 31st killing but did not provide further details.

Hickman, 23, was arrested by federal authorities April 7th and booked into King County Jail that afternoon. He remains held on $2 million bail. His lawyers say Hickman has never been convicted of a crime.

A trial date is currently set for mid-May but could be continued to a later date.

 

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Keep Denny Blaine Nude? Neighbors sue city over ‘public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking’

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(Image: Denny Blaine Park for All)

Homeowners in the wealthy neighborhood surrounding Denny Blaine Park and nude beach are suing the city over its management of the lakefront public space.

“It is now a regional venue for criminal and uncivil behavior that includes public masturbation, public sex and other types of indecent exposure, drug use, unlawful public nudity, environmental damage to the shoreline, and scofflaw parking that prevents fire trucks and ambulances from reaching neighborhood homes,” the complaint from lawyers representing the Denny Blaine Park for All “association of concerned neighbors” reads.

The lawsuit was sent to Seattle media and television stations this week but is not yet available from the King County Superior Court.

The Seattle Times posted a copy of the complaint Wednesday.

The lawsuit from Seattle’s Foster Garvey PC firm is a major wrinkle in any efforts hoped to bridge the gaps between area homeowners, Seattle Parks, and the nudist and queer communities working to “Keep Denny Blaine Nude” while also addressing concerns about access, cleanliness, and safety around the park. Continue reading →

Another delay as sentencing in Elijah Lewis murder trial postponed to May

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Already a delayed journey, the path to justice in the Elijah Lewis murder case will stretch out for three more weeks.

“Barring extraordinary circumstances, this will be the last continuance,” King County Superior Court Judge Sean O’Donnell vowed in his decision last week to grant a final continuance for the sentencing hearing for defendant Patrick Cooney.

In February, Cooney was convicted by a jury of second degree murder and first degree assault for the April 2023 scooter road rage shooting that took the life of the 23-year-old Lewis at the corner of Broadway and Pine. Continue reading →

Murder charge: Marshals track down suspect in deadly December 31st shooting at Broadway and Pike

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From the SPD report on the investigation

Police say Hickman was identified with the help of security video and witness accounts at the scene

A 23-year-old Bellevue man has been arrested by U.S. Marshals and charged with the December 31st murder of Jonny Adamow at Broadway and Pike.

The office of the King County Prosecuting Attorney says Charles Hickman has been charged with first degree murder in the deadly late night ambush in which police say Hickman was targeting another person at the busy intersection.

Hickman was arrested by federal authorities Monday and booked into King County Jail that afternoon. He is held on $2 million bail.

Police have been searching for the suspect since the night of the murder. Prosecutors say detectives were able to identify the man through “video capturing unique identifying details and information from the witnesses present at the scene.” Continue reading →