Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 850661.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 850661.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/850661.pdf ↗

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public record is automatically admissible under [RCW 5.44.040].” State v. Monson,

113 Wn.2d 833, 839, 784 P.2d 485 (1989). To be admissible under RCW

5.44.040, “a report or document prepared by a public official must contain facts

and not conclusions involving the exercise of judgment or discretion or the

expression of opinion.” Brundridge, 164 Wn.2d at 451 (quoting Steel v. Johnson,

9 Wn.2d 347, 358, 115 P.2d 145 (1941)). The purpose of barring such conclusions

is to avoid substituting a government agency’s conclusions for those of the jury.

See Bierlein v. Byrne, 103 Wn. App. 865, 870, 14 P.3d 823 (2000).

Applying these legal principles here, the L&I investigator’s statement that

“No violations were cited” and “No penalties were assessed” is a judgment on

whether SPD violated the law, which is akin to the jury’s role of determining

whether SPD was negligent. While SPD argues this statement is not conclusory

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For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
No. 85066-1-I

because it “merely stated that the CO readings [in the West Garage] did not exceed

L&I standards,” SPD conflates a fact (the readings did not exceed L&I standards)

with a conclusion (no violations or penalties were issued). Even if the trial court

erred in excluding this evidence, SPD was not prejudiced because, as stated

above, it was able to argue that it complied with L&I regulations and was, thus, not

negligent. 15 Therefore, the trial court did not err in excluding the L&I report’s

conclusions.

VII

Finally, SPD challenges the trial court’s award of attorney fees and costs to

Sgt. Hockett totaling $1,622,356.20 based on RCW 49.60.030(2) and SMC

4.20.870, which entitle a prevailing party to recover reasonable attorney fees for