William Love v. DOC

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 10, 2016
Docket46798-4
StatusUnpublished

This text of William Love v. DOC (William Love v. DOC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
William Love v. DOC, (Wash. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two

May 10, 2016

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION II WILLIAM LOVE, as Personal Representative No. 46798-4-II of the ESTATE OF CAMILLE LOVE, and JOSHUA LOVE, a single man,

Appellants,

v.

STATE OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT UNPUBLISHED OPINION OF CORRECTIONS, a governmental entity, CITY OF TACOMA, a municipal corporation and DOES 1-10 INCLUSIVE,

Respondents.

MAXA, J. – William Love and Joshua Love (collectively Love) appeal the trial court’s

summary judgment dismissal of their lawsuit against the State Department of Corrections (State)

based on insufficient service of process and the expiration of the statute of limitations. Love

delivered the summons and complaint to the Tacoma attorney general’s office and it was

stamped as received. However, the State asserted that service was insufficient because Love did

not actually serve the summons and complaint on an assistant attorney general (AAG) as

required under RCW 4.92.020.

Love initially argued that he had served a secretary at the attorney general’s office, and

the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the State because no AAG had been served.

Love filed a motion for reconsideration, and the trial court held an evidentiary hearing on the

service issue. Love offered testimony that the receptionist at the attorney general’s office had No. 46798-4-II

presented a person who appeared to be an AAG to accept service, but the trial court found that

the testimony was not credible. The trial court concluded that the State had presented clear and

convincing evidence that service was insufficient and therefore denied reconsideration.

We hold that summary judgment was appropriate because (1) substantial evidence

presented at the evidentiary hearing supported the trial court’s conclusion that the State presented

clear and convincing evidence of insufficient service; (2) the State was not estopped from

asserting insufficient service because the trial court did not believe Love’s evidence that the

receptionist at the attorney general’s office purported to present the proper person for service,

and (3) the State did not waive its affirmative defense by waiting a year before moving for

summary judgment on insufficient service.1

Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the State.

FACTS

According to Love’s complaint, on February 7, 2010 gang members who were under the

supervision of the State shot and killed Camille Love and shot and injured Joshua Love. On

February 7, 2013, William Love (as personal representative of Camille’s estate) and Joshua Love

filed a lawsuit against the State and the city of Tacoma2 for various causes of action including

negligence and wrongful death.

1 On appeal, Love also argues that (1) an AAG was properly served by secondhand service, (2) the doctrine of constructive service applies, (3) the State waived the statute of limitations affirmative defense by failing to affirmatively plead it, and (4) the statute of limitations did not run because it was tolled when Love served the city of Tacoma, another defendant. However, Love did not make these arguments in the trial court. Therefore, we decline to consider them for the first time on appeal. RAP 2.5(a); Martin v. Johnson, 141 Wn. App. 611, 623, 170 P.3d 1198 (2007). 2 The trial court dismissed Love’s claims against Tacoma on March 29, 2013.

2 No. 46798-4-II

Service of Complaint

On March 5, Stephen Currie delivered a copy of the summons and complaint to the

Tacoma attorney general’s office. In a declaration of service prepared on March 6, Currie stated

that he served a “receptionist, a tall Caucasian male.” Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 184. In a later

declaration signed on May 6, 2014, Currie stated:

I approached the receptionist desk and asked who accepted service in their office. The receptionist left and returned with a tall Caucasian male who agreed to accept service on behalf of the Attorney General’s office. The male who agreed to accept service was dressed in a suit and tie and he was wearing a badge, therefore I assumed he was the appropriate person to accept service.

CP at 118.

In April 2013, the State filed its answer to Love’s complaint, in which it asserted

insufficient service in its list of affirmative defenses.

Extent of Litigation

During oral argument on summary judgment, Love represented to the court that the

parties had engaged in litigation, stating:

We’ve had a couple of motions that have been heard by the Court, the motion to continue the trial date, as well as the motion to depose the defendants in the Department of Corrections. . . . We’ve had numerous requests for interrogatories and requests for production, and we’ve also engaged in depositions.

Report of Proceedings (RP) at 13. The State noted that it did not bring any motions prior to its

motion for summary judgment. However, nothing in the appellate record provides information

about what discovery or other litigation activities had occurred before the State filed its summary

judgment motion.

3 No. 46798-4-II

Summary Judgment Motion

In April 2014, a year after it filed an answer, the State filed a summary judgment motion

seeking dismissal of Love’s lawsuit based on insufficient service and expiration of the statute of

limitations. The State argued that Love did not serve the summons and complaint on an AAG as

Love’s response in opposition to summary judgment argued that service was proper

under RCW 4.28.080(9), which allows service on a company or corporation by delivering the

summons to a secretary. Love argued, “In this action the summons and complaint were served

upon the secretary at the attorney general’s office.” CP at 113. Love also argued that the State

had waived its insufficient service affirmative defense by engaging in discovery on the merits.

The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the State and dismissed Love’s

claims with prejudice.

Motion for Reconsideration/Evidentiary Hearing

Love filed a motion for reconsideration, arguing for the first time that an AAG was

properly served as required by RCW 4.92.020. Love requested an evidentiary hearing to

determine whether Currie had served an AAG. The trial court granted Love’s request.

At the evidentiary hearing, Currie testified that his initial declaration of service from

March 6, 2013 that said he served a male receptionist was incorrect. Currie testified that what

really happened was that he told a female receptionist he had a summons and complaint to serve

on “the appropriate party who will accept service on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office.”

RP at 109. The receptionist left and brought an AAG from the back to accept service.

4 No. 46798-4-II

Currie described the AAG as a tall Caucasian male in a suit and tie. He said the AAG

came from behind the glass window into the lobby area. And Currie claimed that he observed

the AAG personally stamp the summons and complaint. Currie did not ask the AAG to identify

himself.

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

Related

Davidheiser v. Pierce County
960 P.2d 998 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1998)
Nitardy v. Snohomish County
712 P.2d 296 (Washington Supreme Court, 1986)
Landreville v. SHORELINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT NO. 7
766 P.2d 1107 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1988)
French v. Gabriel
806 P.2d 1234 (Washington Supreme Court, 1991)
Meadowdale Neighborhood Committee v. City of Edmonds
616 P.2d 1257 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1980)
Harvey v. Obermeit
261 P.3d 671 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2011)
Wright v. DAVE JOHNSON INS. INC.
275 P.3d 339 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2012)
Witt v. Port of Olympia
109 P.3d 489 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2005)
Ralph's Concrete v. Concord Concrete Pumps
225 P.3d 1035 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2010)
Martin v. Johnson
170 P.3d 1198 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2007)
Smith v. King
722 P.2d 796 (Washington Supreme Court, 1986)
Butler v. Joy
65 P.3d 671 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2003)
Lybbert v. Grant County
1 P.3d 1124 (Washington Supreme Court, 2000)
King v. Snohomish County
146 Wash. 2d 420 (Washington Supreme Court, 2002)
Scanlan v. Townsend
336 P.3d 1155 (Washington Supreme Court, 2014)
Keck v. Collins
357 P.3d 1080 (Washington Supreme Court, 2015)
Blankenship v. Kaldor
57 P.3d 295 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2002)
Butler v. Joy
116 Wash. App. 291 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2003)
Witt v. Port of Olympia
126 Wash. App. 752 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2005)
Martin v. Johnson
141 Wash. App. 611 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
William Love v. DOC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/william-love-v-doc-washctapp-2016.