Vergeson v. Kitsap County

186 P.3d 1140
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided July 1, 2008·No. 35313-0-II·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

186 P.3d 1140 (2008)

Magdalina Quitorio VERGESON, formerly known as Magdalina Quitoro Cuddie, individually, Appellant,
v.
KITSAP COUNTY, a Municipal Corporation, and The City of Bremerton, a Municipal Corporation both organized under the laws of the State of Washington, Respondents.

No. 35313-0-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

July 1, 2008.

*1142 Anthony Clarence Otto, Attorney at Law, Port Orchard, WA, for Appellant.

Neil Robert Wachter, Kitsap County Prosecutor's Office, Port Orchard, WA, Mark E. Koontz, Bremerton City Attorney's Office, Bremerton, WA, for Respondents.

HUNT, J.

¶ 1 Magdalina Vergeson appeals the trial court's summary judgment dismissal of her negligence claim against Kitsap County and the City of Bremerton. She argues that (1) the County and the City owed her a duty to exercise ordinary care in removing court-quashed warrants from computerized information systems; (2) the public duty doctrine does not apply; (3) even if the public duty doctrine applies, her claim falls within the doctrine's exceptions, thereby allowing her action to proceed; and (4) the facts establish a breach of duty, including a per se breach of duty under the res ipsa loquitur doctrine.

¶ 2 We hold that (1) the public duty doctrine applies and Vergeson failed to establish an exception; and (2) in the alternative, even if the County and City owed an individualized duty to Vergeson, she fails to show that the County and the City did not exercise ordinary care. We affirm.

FACTS[1]

I. Background

A. Two Arrest Warrants Issued

1. First warrant, Kitsap County cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X

¶ 3 On May 24, 1985, Kitsap County charged Magdalina Vergeson with forgery and unlawful issuance of a bank check in Kitsap County cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X under the name "LINA Q. VERGESON a/k/a MAGDALINA QUITARIO CUDDIE." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 104. The County used this same name and alias when it issued a warrant for Vergeson's arrest in this cause number.

¶ 4 On June 6, the City of Bremerton entered this Kitsap County cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X warrant in the State of Washington database, WASIC,[2] using only the name "Lina Q. Vergeson" and the City's police department case number.[3] The City *1143 did not also enter Vergeson's "Magdalina Quitario Cuddie" alias. Nor did the City enter this county warrant into the national database (NCIC).

2. Second warrant, Kitsap County cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X

¶ 5 Sometime later in 1985, Kitsap County charged Vergeson with another separate crime, for which it issued an arrest warrant under the Kitsap County cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X. The record on appeal does not contain the original charging information or warrant for this second charge and cause number. Vergeson does not challenge the validity of either arrest warrant.

B. Arrest on Second Warrant and Removal from Databases

¶ 6 Some 18 years later, on August 16, 2003, United States Customs arrested Vergeson on the second County warrant, Kitsap County cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X.

¶ 7 On August 18, Pamela Morris, an experienced support services specialist for the County sheriffs office, received notice that the United States Customs had served this warrant on Vergeson. Morris searched the Washington and national warrant databases using the XX-X-XXXXX-X county warrant cause number and the names "Magdalina Quitario Cuddie, Magdalina Vergeson, and Magdalina Vargson," the "only names for [Vergeson] known at that time."[4] CP at 54. Following accepted standard procedures,[5] Morris located and removed the XX-X-XXXXX-X County warrant from both the national and state databases.

¶ 8 Morris found no other warrants under these three names listed for Vergeson; therefore, she removed no other Vergeson arrest warrants.[6] Nor did Morris have additional information suggesting that a further search might be needed.

C. First Warrant Quashed But Not Removed From Databases

¶ 9 In September 2003, the Kitsap County Superior Court quashed Vergeson's first warrant, which had been issued in 1985 in Kitsap County cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X. The order quashing the warrant contained this County cause number and the names "Lisa Vergeson" and "Magdalina Q[.] Cuddie."[7] A Kitsap County Superior Court clerk called Morris and told her the court had quashed a warrant for a "Magdalina Cuddie" under cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X.

¶ 10 Morris checked the national and Washington State databases, but found no warrants under the name "Magdalina Cuddie" or "other names [they] possessed for Ms. Vergeson" or under cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X. CP at 54. Morris "concluded that this cause number [XX-X-XXXXX-X] must have *1144 been attached to the warrant cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X, which [Morris] had removed from the databases back on August 18, 2003." CP at 54. Thus, Morris did not find and remove the warrant in cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X from the database.

¶ 11 When Morris later found out that cause number XX-XXXXXXX-X had not been removed from the databases, she believe[d] that [she] did not locate the warrant from cause number XX-XXXXXXX-X on September 10, 2003 or on any other date prior to February 14, 2004, because the searchable fields in the WASIC database contained neither the cause number "XX-XXXXXXX-X" nor the names [the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office] possessed for Ms. Vergeson, including "Magdalina Cuddie."

CP at 54-55.

D. Second Arrest on First Warrant

¶ 12 On February 14, 2004, about six months after Morris was unable to locate Vergeson's arrest warrant on cause number XX-X-XXXXX-X in the databases, the Washington State Patrol arrested Vergeson on this warrant. On February 17, the Kitsap County Superior Court entered another order quashing this warrant; the order included both Kitsap County cause numbers XX-XXXXXXX-X and XX-X-XXXXX-X and the name "Magdalina Q. Cuddie."

¶ 13 The City removed Vergeson's arrest warrant from the Washington database that same day.

II. Procedural History

¶ 14 On February 13, 2006, Vergeson sued the City and the County. She alleged that they had been negligent and had violated her civil rights by failing to remove all records of her court-quashed warrants from the Washington and national databases.

¶ 15 The City and the County moved for summary judgment. The trial court granted them summary judgment and dismissed Vergeson's claims.

¶ 16 Vergeson appeals the trial court's dismissal of her negligence claim only.[8]

ANALYSIS

¶ 17 Vergeson argues that the trial court erred in dismissing her negligence claims on summary judgment because the County and the City owed her an actionable duty to exercise ordinary care in removing her court-quashed warrant from the databases. We disagree.

I. Negligence Claim Against the City

¶ 18 At oral argument, Vergeson conceded that she does not have a negligence claim against the City. She explained that she had included the City in her complaint to avoid having the County blame the City for the alleged negligence. Accepting this concession, we affirm the trial court's summary judgment dismissal of Vergeson's negligence claim against the City.

¶ 19 Thus, our analysis focuses on Vergeson's negligence claim against the County.

II. Negligence Claim Against the County

A. Standard of Review

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Vergeson v. Kitsap County, 186 P.3d 1140 (Wash. Ct. App. 2008).

186 P.3d 1140 (Vergeson v. Kitsap County) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Davis v. Strus
E.D. Washington, 2020
Hernandez v. Federal Way
W.D. Washington, 2020
Fabre v. Town of Ruston
321 P.3d 1208 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2014)
Steve Fabre, Point Defiance Cafe, V Town Of Ruston
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2014
Hugh And Martha Sisley, App v. City Of Seattle, Resp
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2014
Gorman v. Pierce County
307 P.3d 795 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2013)
Munich v. Skagit Emergency Communications Center
288 P.3d 328 (Washington Supreme Court, 2012)
Kane v. City of Bainbridge Island
866 F. Supp. 2d 1254 (W.D. Washington, 2011)
Munich v. Skagit Emergency Communications Center
161 Wash. App. 116 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2011)
Munich v. SKAGIT EMERG. COMMUNICATIONS CTR.
250 P.3d 491 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2011)
Pope v. DOUGLAS CTY. PUBLIC UTILITY DIST.
241 P.3d 797 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2010)
Pope v. Douglas County Public Utility District No. 1
241 P.3d 797 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2010)