Posts by possingeradmin:
Danieli Legal Team Welcomes Marla Zink as Appellate Counsel
Posted on: 15 Apr 2021
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Since obtaining a declaratory judgment with injunctive relief and prevailing in Pierce County Superior Court against their government defendants, Anna Danieli and her cat, Miska, have begun the process of filing an appeal. This appeal opposes the court’s recent decision to deny Ms. Danieli attorney fees, despite her success in proving that the City of Bellevue had acted unlawfully by way of not updating their code to reflect a contract agreement with King County. To support Danieli’s efforts in this appeal, attorney Marla Zink has joined the litigation team. Zink, a co-founder and managing member of Luminata Law, brings a wealth of appellate experience to the case. She is enthusiastic about the opportunity to represent Danieli against the government defendants. “A lay citizen who proved that her government was acting without authority should not have to bear the entire cost of litigation,” Zink asserts. “I am pleased to be able to use my appellate court experience to build on Mr. Possinger and Mr. Zimmerman’s trial court arguments.” Danieli’s existing attorneys are also confident that the appeal is in good hands. “Ms. Zink is a capable and caring appellate lawyer with a history of successful outcomes,” attorney Jeffrey Possinger affirms. “She is a zealous advocate, who brings a fresh perspective and attentiveness to this very complex case. We are excited to see where Miska’s story will go, with Marla on the team.” Ms. Zink’s first project will be ensuring that Ms. Danieli’s appeal is heard as a direct appeal, rather than being reviewed as a motion for discretionary review. Further updates will be shared soon, as the case continues to develop. Marla Zink can be reached through her website, luminatalaw.com. We invite you to stay up-to-date with future case developments by following our firm’s related social media channels (@possinger_law_group on Instagram, and miskathecat.com).
King County Takes Miska the Tabby Cat to Federal Court
Posted on: 16 Mar 2021
King County files Notice of Removal in Federal Court, which Danieli’s Attorneys Claim is Premature and Frivolous. TACOMA, WASHINGTON On Friday, March 5th, 2021, the King County Defendants filed a Notice of Removal to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. With this one filing, King County has essentially made a federal case of the lawsuit involving Miska, the brown tabby cat from Bellevue. King County’s Notice of Removal comes while a number of motions were still pending in Pierce County Superior Court before Judge Timothy Ashcraft, as well as an appeal in the Court of Appeals, Div. 2. Attorneys for Anna Danieli, Miska’s owner, have put both King County and the Superior Court on notice that this recent filing was both untimely and legally baseless filing in the Federal Court. “This was clearly a legally frivolous action taken by the King County Defendants,” stated attorney Jon Zimmerman, one of Danieli’s attorneys. “The Superior Court has not even been given the opportunity to make a decision about [Danieli’s] requested amendment to her complaint, and the King County Defendants are making filings in federal court with zero legal basis.” Based on filings with the Federal Court, the other defendants, City of Bellevue, and the King County Hearing Examiner have consented to the Notice of Removal. Danieli’s attorneys are expected to respond to King County’s Notice of Removal in the U.S. District Court, where the case has been assigned to Chief Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. Notice of Removal (Federal Court) (02-05-2021) Letter to Superior Court (03-15-2021) We invite you to stay up-to-date with future case developments by following our firm’s related social media channels (@possinger_law_group on Instagram, and miskathecat.com).
Danieli asks Court to Add Civil Rights Violations
Posted on: 09 Feb 2021
Based on information uncovered in litigation, Plaintiff is now seeking approval of the Court to add claims to her original complaint that King County Animal Control’s targeting of her and her brown tabby cat, Miska, were a violation of her Civil Rights. TACOMA, WASHINGTON Based on information uncovered over the last several months of litigation, Anna Danieli, the owner of a brown tabby cat from Bellevue, is requesting that the Court allow her to amend her complaint to include claims for violations of her civil rights. On February 5th, 2021, Danieli filed a motion in Pierce County Superior Court seeking permission from the Court to amend her existing complaint against King County and the other Government Defendants. Danieli’s case has recently been reassigned to Pierce County Superior Court Judge Timothy Ashcraft. A copy of the proposed amended complaint was attached to Danieli’s Motion, which set out the basis of her claims that King County and other government actors, including Defendant Gene Mueller, violated her civil rights when she and her cat, Miska, were targeted with excessive enforcement, in part because Mueller is both a neighbor of Danieli and the head of Regional Animal Services of King County (“RASKC”). “We believe that this is a case where the use of government police powers and other government resources in a neighborhood dispute were influenced by the fact that the head of King County Animal Control was interested in the outcome as a neighbor of the our client,“ asserts attorney Jon Zimmerman, one of the attorneys representing Anna Danieli. The case garnered earlier attention due to the substantial amount of government resources spent prosecuting a neighborhood cat. (See: Article). At one point, two separate King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys were simultaneously assigned to prosecute Miska and her owner, Anna Danieli. “We have found no cat in King County that has been prosecuted or cited like Miska,” said Zimmerman, referring to the approximate 30 citations issued by RASKC officers to Miska over several years, of the approximate 50 overall citations issued to cats in King County during the same time period. (See: Article). Troubling New Evidence Discovered What was unknown at the time that Danieli initially filed her lawsuit in 2019 was the role that Mueller and others had played in the extensive targeting of Danieli and her cat Miska. In the course of ongoing litigation, evidence has been produced indicating that Mueller, as one of Danieli’s neighbors, was one of the neighbors filing complaints, which were then being prosecuted by his own agency. His involvement as a simultaneous complainant and as head of RASKC was not revealed to Danieli until much later. Additional evidence has also revealed that Danieli’s neighbors were being solicited and encouraged by RASKC employees to file complaints against Danieli and Miska. However, one of the most disturbing revelations was that Mueller had allegedly shown RASKC employees, including an Animal Control Officer, a photograph on his phone of Mueller’s wife holding a rifle and then indicating to employees “that this was a ‘solution’ to the Danieli ‘cat problem.’” This Animal Control Officer was later assigned to the RASKC complaint that had been personally filed by Mueller. Based on this and other evidence that has surfaced, Danieli believes that this excessive and disproportionate enforcement, which singled her out like no other cat owner in King County, is the basis of a civil rights claim against King County, Mueller, and other Government Defendants. Danieli Lawsuit Has Already Succeeded in Requiring the City of Bellevue to Update and Correct City Code. Prior to bringing this most current Motion, Danieli had previously succeeded in obtaining a Declaratory Judgement and Injunction that found the City of Bellevue’s Code to be invalid, and which enjoined the King County Hearing Examiner from hearing any further Animal Control Appeals coming out of Bellevue until the city updated and corrected the Bellevue City Code. Because of this successful Motion for Partial Summary Judgement and the resulting Court Order, the City of Bellevue updated its City Code in early December 2020. Since the time of that successful motion, the case has continued as Danieli has pursued her tort claims against the Government Defendants, and if approved by the Superior Court at an upcoming hearing, she will pursue her civil rights claims against the Government Defendants as well. “We have been very happy with the results that we have been able to obtain for our client to-date, including the much-needed changes to Bellevue’s law, but we have been particularly troubled about the discoveries we have made over the last few months concerning the events were happening behind the scenes while our client was the subject of such intense prosecution by Animal Control,” said Jeffrey Possinger, another attorney whose firm represents Danieli. “Despite the earlier wins, there is still a lot of work yet to do in order to get a full measure of justice for our client and her family.” A hearing is scheduled for February 19th, 2021 at 9:00 AM in Pierce County Superior Court to hear Daniel’s Motion to Amend her Pleadings. Motion for Leave to Amend (02-05-2021) Proposed Second Amended Complaint We invite you to stay up-to-date with future case developments by following our firm’s related social media channels (@possinger_law_group on Instagram, and miskathecat.com).
City of Bellevue Updates Law in Response to Judge’s Order
Posted on: 10 Dec 2020
In response to the court’s order in Danieli v. King County, the City of Bellevue updates and corrects the Bellevue City Code. BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON Following the entry of the Court’s Order on November 13, 2020, deeming the City of Bellevue’s City Code invalid, the City of Bellevue has taken action to update its laws. On December 7, 2020, the Bellevue City Council passed Ordinance No. 6546, which updated Bellevue’s City Code sections 8.04.180, 08.04.340(6)(a) and 8.04.350, effectively fixing the problems in the law that were pointed out in Danieli v. King County, et. al., and ordered to be rectified by the Court. The City of Bellevue’s change to the law is one of the significant wins for Danieli in her case against the City of Bellevue, and other government agencies. “We are happy for both our client as well as the citizens of the City of Bellevue,” stated Jeffrey Possinger, one of Danieli’s attorneys. “It is unfortunate that it took a lawsuit and a court order to get the government actors to do what should have been done all along, but we are very pleased with this result.” The new updates to the law will go into effect five days after passage and publication. This update corrects a significant flaw in the previous Bellevue City Code, which failed to grant legal authority for the King County Hearing Examiner to hear animal control cases arising out of the City of Bellevue. In 2016, the City of Bellevue entered into an Interlocal Agreement with King County for Animal Control Cases, which required the city to update its code for certain changes in the processes used by King County for appeals of decisions made by Regional Animal Control of King County (“RASKC”). However, after entering into this agreement with King County, the City of Bellevue failed to update its code, which the Court ruled caused earlier decisions made by the King County Hearing Examiner, which included Danieli’s case, to be void. RASKC is the King County agency in charge of enforcing animal control laws in King County, and on behalf of a number of cities, like the City of Bellevue, which King County has entered contracts for services. Despite this significant win by Danieli in Pierce County Superior Court in October 2020, the case continues against the various Government Defendants, as various tort claims remain unresolved with a trial expected in the Spring of 2021. We invite you to stay up-to-date with future case developments by following our firm’s related social media channels (@possinger_law_group on Instagram, and miskathecat.com).
Court Enters Order Against Government Defendants
Posted on: 16 Nov 2020
Court Rules Bellevue City Code Invalid. King County Hearing Examiner enjoined from hearing any further Animal Control Cases until City of Bellevue updates Bellevue City Code. TACOMA, WASHINGTON Attorneys for Miska, the brown tabby cat from Bellevue, and her owner, Anna Danieli, were in court again on Friday, November 13th, 2020, for entry of an Order on Danieli’s earlier success in court on October 23rd, 2020, where Judge Bryan Chushcoff ruled in favor of Danieli’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment seeking Declaratory Relief and Injunctive Relief against the various Government Defendants. Danieli and the Government Defendants disagreed on the the final order that the Court should enter. Argument around this final written order concerned itself with a number of issues, a critical one relating to the scope and effect of the court’s earlier ruling on the legal authority of the King County Hearing Examiner to hear animal control cases arising out of the City of Bellevue. After legal counsel for Danieli and the various Government Defendants concluded their legal arguments, the court determined to take the issues presented under advisement. Judge Chushcoff entered his final order later the same day. The order entered by the court is significant. In addition to directly affecting Anna Danieli’s case (in which matters are expected to be dismissed by the King County Hearing Examiner shortly as a result) there may be a broader impact on other cases that have been before the King County Hearing Examiner since 2016. The court’s order indicates that the City of Bellevue’s law never properly gave legal authority to the King County Hearing Examiner to hear cases coming from the City of Bellevue. “The Court’s order that was entered today clearly calls into question the validity of any other similar decisions made by the King County Hearing Examiner since 2016 [on cases from Bellevue]”, stated attorney Jeffrey Possinger commenting on the Court’s final decision. “The same legal issues would exist for any decisions that were made [by the King County Hearing Examiner] from cities that failed to update their municipal codes after King County made its shift from the Board of Appeals to the [King County] Hearing Examiner to hear animal control cases. Legally speaking, this is a ticking time bomb for a number of jurisdictions” The Defendants have 30 days to appeal the Court’s Order. Order Granting Injunctive and Declaratory Relief (11-13-2020) We invite you to stay up-to-date with future case developments by following our firm’s related social media channels (@possinger_law_group on Instagram, and miskathecat.com).