Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 60448-5-II Published Opinion.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 60448-5-II Published Opinion.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/D2%2060448-5-II%20Published%20Opinion.pdf ↗

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with the parties and witnesses (and specifically tenants who may have less access to legal resources

or information) and assess the veracity of the various claims. One might readily imagine that this

assessment could rise or fall on the subtleties of courtroom dynamics, such as body language, voice

inflections, and other nonverbal cues related to credibility. Assessing the veracity of the

information, both written and oral, provided by participants under a statutory scheme that values

both expediency and efficiency while, at the same time, providing tenants a meaningful right to be

heard, asks much of our superior courts at these hearings. A similarly comprehensive assessment

is not necessary or even allowed for summary judgment motions. Barker v. Advanced Silicon

Materials, LLC, 131 Wn. App. 616, 624, (“On motion for summary judgment the trial court does

not weigh evidence or assess witness credibility.”), review denied, 158 Wn.2d 1015 (2006). An

abuse of discretion standard may more closely match these considerations, notwithstanding the

use of summary judgment-type language in some aspects of the statute.

We do not decide whether an abuse of discretion standard is appropriate for all decisions

made at a show cause hearing as this case presents only the singular question of what standard to

apply to the first step under RCW 59.18.380—the superior court’s decision regarding a writ of

restitution. We hold, for the reasons explained above, that the appropriate standard for these

decisions is abuse of discretion. We are unpersuaded by decisions, including Kiemle, that suggest

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For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.

No. 60448-5-II