IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

DIVISION THREE

ROBERT E. LARSON; TYLER W. 

GASSMAN; and, PAUL E. STATLER,

Appellants,

v.

STATE OF WASHINGTON,

Respondent.

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No. 35649-3-III

PUBLISHED OPINION

SIDDOWAY, J. — Robert Larson, Tyler Gassman, and Paul Statler were wrongly 

convicted of crimes and spent roughly four years in prison before their convictions were 

vacated and the charges against them were dismissed. They later established their right 

to assert a claim under Washington’s “Wrongfully Convicted Persons Act” (WCPA), 

chapter 4.100 RCW, which provides damages to a wrongly convicted individual based on 

years of incarceration, damage-based attorney fees, and certain costs. The three men also 

filed a federal lawsuit against Spokane County and two of its law enforcement officers 

under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (the Section 1983 action). They reached a $2.25 million 

settlement against the defendants in that lawsuit at around the same time they established 

their rights under the WCPA.

FILED

AUGUST 15, 2019

In the Office of the Clerk of Court

WA State Court of Appeals, Division III
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2

At issue is whether their judgment for money damages under the WCPA remained 

viable after the three men settled the Section 1983 action. Given the operative provisions 

of the WCPA and the legislative intent that its remedies and compensation be exclusive, 

we hold that their judgment for WCPA compensation no longer remained viable. The 

superior court’s order vacating the judgment is affirmed.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 2008, Messrs. Larson, Gassman, and Statler (the plaintiffs) were arrested in 

connection with a Spokane robbery. At their trial in February 2009, they presented alibi

evidence. A jury nonetheless found each guilty of first degree robbery, first degree 

assault, and drive-by shooting. Each was sentenced to more than 20 years of 

incarceration. They began serving their sentences in July 2009. 

In 2012, the superior court granted their CrR 7.8 motion for relief from judgment, 

finding they had received ineffective assistance from trial counsel, who failed to 

investigate potentially exculpatory evidence. Their convictions were vacated and they 

were released from prison. Rather than retry them, the State dismissed the charges 

against them in May and July 2013.

In May 2013, the Washington Legislature enacted the WCPA. LAWS OF 2013, ch. 

175. It became effective on July 28, 2013, and afforded individuals wrongly convicted 

before that date a three year period within which to file suit. Id. at § 9 (codified at RCW 

4.100.090). It expressly addresses its relationship to other civil remedies that a wrongly 
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convicted person might have. As more fully examined below, it states the intent of the 

legislature that WCPA remedies and compensation “be exclusive to all other remedies at 

law and in equity” against the state and its political subdivisions. Id. at § 8 (codified at 

RCW 4.100.080). It effectuates that intent by requiring that a WCPA claimant (1) waive 

other remedies against the state and certain state actors related to the claimant’s wrongful 

conviction and imprisonment, including remedies under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, (2) execute a 

legal release before receiving payment of any WCPA compensation, and (3) reimburse 

the State in whole or in part if the claimant’s release is held invalid and the claimant later 

recovers a tort award.

In January 2014, the plaintiffs brought this action, asserting claims for 

compensation under the WCPA. At the conclusion of a 2015 bench trial, the superior 

court concluded they had not met their burden of proof and entered judgment in favor of 

the State. The plaintiffs appealed. While the State appeal was pending, the plaintiffs 

filed suit in federal court against Spokane County and two of its law enforcement officers 

under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 

In June 2016, this court held that the superior court had applied too high a burden 

of proof on the plaintiffs in certain respects, and remanded for the court to reconsider the 

required element of actual innocence. Larson v. State, 194 Wn. App. 722, 725, 375 P.3d 

1096 (2016). 
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Spokane County responded to this court’s revival of the plaintiffs’ WCPA claim 

by moving the federal district court to dismiss the Section 1983 action, citing the 

WCPA’s “exclusive remedy” and waiver language. Reading RCW 4.100.080(1) as a 

whole, the federal district court construed it as allowing concurrent actions, even though 

“‘[p]laintiffs must execute a legal release of all their other claims, including § 1983 

claims, prior to the payment of compensation under the WCPA.’” Clerk’s Papers (CP) 

at 59 (boldface and underscore omitted). Accordingly, the Section 1983 action 

proceeded, as did the WCPA claim. 

In April 2017, after applying the law as clarified by this court, the superior court 

concluded that the plaintiffs were entitled to recover under the WCPA. The WCPA

provides that a wrongfully convicted individual is entitled to $50,000.00 per year of 

actual incarceration, attorney fees capped at the lesser of 10 percent of the claimant’s 

damages or $75,000, costs, and any child support payments that went unpaid due to a 

claimant’s incarceration. RCW 4.100.060(5)(a), (c), (e). The superior court determined 

that the plaintiffs were entitled to $710,697.70 in WCPA damages, $78,380.06 in 

attorney fees and costs, and that Mr. Larson was entitled to $1,299.97 in unpaid child 

support payments. 

In mid-June 2017, the plaintiffs moved the court to enter judgment for their

WCPA remedies. The State opposed the motion, notifying the superior court that it had 

learned on June 26 that the plaintiffs had settled their Section 1983 claims for a total of 
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$2.5 million. The State also represented that the settlement had been paid, but admitted 

relying only on hearsay. It argued that having obtained a federal remedy against Spokane 

County and its officers, the plaintiffs could not recover compensation under the WCPA. 

The superior court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, as requested. 

Although a transcript of the hearing has not been made a part of the record, the superior

court would later explain that in entering the judgment, it had 

attempted to emphasize the distinction between obtaining a judgment 

versus enforcing a judgment. [When the judgment was entered], the 

plaintiffs hadn’t been compensated on their [Section] 1983 claim or there 

was no evidence that they’d been compensated under their [Section] 1983 

claim. Rather, they had just settled the claim. The language consistently 

used in RCW 4.100 relates to being compensated rather than just making 

other claims. 

Report of Proceedings (RP) at 31-32. The superior court later explained that at the 

time it agreed to enter judgment,

I found that the plaintiffs were entitled to a judgment because they had met 

all the requirements of the statute and there was no evidence that they’d 

been compensated on another claim. I then predicted everyone would be 

back when the plaintiffs try to enforce the judgment if they get 

compensated on their [Section] 1983 claims.

Id. at 32. To ensure the State’s ability to return to court if the plaintiffs received the 

federal settlement and then took steps to collect the Washington judgment as well, the

judgment provided that “[p]laintiffs shall notify [the State’s attorneys] at least 14 days in 

advance of seeking payment from the State.” CP at 105.
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In August 2017, the plaintiffs sought payment of the state court judgment, moving 

the superior court to direct the clerk of court to furnish a certified copy of the judgment to 

the Washington Office of Risk Management. The State opposed their motion and 

obtained an order to show cause why the court should not vacate the judgment under CR 

60(b). This time, the State provided a copy of the Washington Counties Risk Pool check 

in payment of the settlement amount, which turned out to be $2.25 million.

Following a hearing on the cross motions, the superior court denied the plaintiffs’ 

motion and granted the State’s, vacating the plaintiffs’ money judgment.1 The plaintiffs

appeal. 

ANALYSIS

I. FAIRLY READ, THE WCPA CONDITIONS COMPENSATION ON A WRONGLY 

CONVICTED PERSON’S ABILITY TO PROVIDE AN EFFECTIVE WAIVER AND LEGAL 

RELEASE OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE AND STATE ACTORS

The appeal presents an issue of statutory construction, which we review de novo.

City of Spokane v. Spokane County, 158 Wn.2d 661, 672-73, 146 P.3d 893 (2006). “The 

 

1 Although the superior court vacated the entire judgment, it recognized that the 

plaintiffs might be entitled to their statutory attorney fees and costs and that Mr. Larson

might be entitled to his unpaid child support payments. This was based on RCW 

4.100.080(1), under which the reimbursement amount to which the State is entitled from 

an individual who is compensated under the WCPA and receives a tort award related to 

his or her wrongful conviction excludes past child support awarded pursuant to RCW 

4.100.060(5)(c) and attorney fees and costs awarded pursuant to RCW 4.100.060(5)(e). 

The superior court offered to entertain further argument on that issue. 

Without conceding liability for those amounts, the State paid them, so the issue 

was not decided by the superior court and is not presented for review.
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court’s paramount duty in statutory interpretation is to give effect to the legislature’s 

intent.” In re Pers. Restraint of Nichols, 120 Wn. App. 425, 431, 85 P.3d 955 (2003). If 

a statute’s meaning is plain on its face, then the court will give effect to that plain 

meaning as an expression of legislative intent. State ex rel. Citizens Against Tolls v. 

Murphy, 151 Wn.2d 226, 242, 88 P.3d 375 (2004). Plain meaning is discerned not only 

from the provision in question but also from closely related statutes and the underlying 

legislative purposes. Id. Only if the language is ambiguous do we look to aids of 

statutory construction, such as legislative history. State v. Armendariz, 160 Wn.2d 106, 

110-11, 156 P.3d 201 (2007). A statute is ambiguous only if susceptible to two or more 

reasonable interpretations; it is not ambiguous merely because different interpretations 

are conceivable. Burton v. Lehman, 153 Wn.2d 416, 423, 103 P.3d 1230 (2005). 

The first section of the WCPA is entitled “Intent,” and states: 

The legislature recognizes that persons convicted and imprisoned for 

crimes they did not commit have been uniquely victimized. Having 

suffered tremendous injustice by being stripped of their lives and liberty, 

they are forced to endure imprisonment and are later stigmatized as felons. 

A majority of those wrongly convicted in Washington state have no remedy 

available under the law for the destruction of their personal lives resulting 

from errors in our criminal justice system. The legislature intends to 

provide an avenue for those who have been wrongly convicted in 

Washington state to redress the lost years of their lives, and help to address 

the unique challenges faced by the wrongly convicted after exoneration.

RCW 4.100.010. 
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The critical subsection of the WCPA for present purposes is RCW 4.100.080(1), 

which appears in the section entitled “Remedies and compensation exclusive—

Admissibility of agreements.” Reformatted for ease of reading and analysis, it provides:

(1) It is the intent of the legislature that the remedies and compensation 

provided under this chapter shall be exclusive to all other remedies at law 

and in equity against the state or any political subdivision of the state. 

As a requirement to making a request for relief under this chapter, the 

claimant waives any and all other remedies, causes of action, and other 

forms of relief or compensation against the state, any political subdivision 

of the state, and their officers, employees, agents, and volunteers related to 

the claimant’s wrongful conviction and imprisonment. This waiver shall 

also include all state, common law, and federal claims for relief, including 

claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. 

A wrongfully convicted person who elects not to pursue a claim for 

compensation pursuant to this chapter shall not be precluded from seeking 

relief through any other existing remedy. 

The claimant must execute a legal release prior to the payment of any 

compensation under this chapter. If the release is held invalid for any 

reason and the claimant is awarded compensation under this chapter and 

receives a tort award related to his or her wrongful conviction and 

incarceration, the claimant must reimburse the state for the lesser of:

(a) The amount of the compensation award, excluding the portion 

awarded pursuant to RCW 4.100.060(5) (c) through (e); or

(b) The amount received by the claimant under the tort award.

RCW 4.100.080(1).

We agree with the plaintiffs and the federal court that notwithstanding the 

requirement that a WCPA claimant “waives any and all other remedies, causes of action, 

and other forms of relief or compensation” against the state and state actors, see id., the 

WCPA allows for concurrent actions as long as the claimant does not both recover relief 
No. 35649-3-III

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from the State or state actors and receive and retain compensation under the WCPA. 

This is implied by the fact that before WCPA compensation is paid, the claimant must 

execute a legal release. Id. Execution of a release would be unnecessary if the waiver 

was binding at the inception of a request for relief under the WCPA. It is also implied by 

the subsection’s recognition that even a claimant who has requested relief and signed a 

legal release might recover a tort award if the release were held invalid. See id.

We reject the plaintiffs’ contention that the requirement that a WCPA claimant 

release claims operates only prospectively, and has no application if a claimant’s first

recovery is for non-WCPA claims, followed by the payment of compensation under the 

WCPA. The plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred by allowing the legislature’s stated 

intent to create an “exclusive remedy” to trump plain language of the WCPA’s operative 

provisions.

2

 We begin our analysis with the operative provisions.

The gloss that the plaintiffs wish to put on the WCPA conflicts with its plain 

language. They argue that “[t]he WCPA creates a narrow, prospective waiver of 

remedies by conditioning the payment of compensation on a release of future claims, 

actions, or proceedings.” Appellants’ Opening Br. at 18 (emphasis added). But the 

relevant language in RCW 4.100.080 does not say, “As a requirement to making a 

 

2 The plaintiffs cite State v. Granath for the rule that “[t]he legislature’s codified 

declaration of intent cannot ‘trump the plain language of the statute.’” 190 Wn.2d 548, 

556, 415 P.3d 1179 (2018) (quoting State v. Reis, 183 Wn.2d 197, 212, 351 P.3d 127 

(2015)).
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request for relief under this chapter, the claimant prospectively waives any and all other 

remedies, causes of action, and other forms of relief or compensation . . . related to the 

claimant’s wrongful imprisonment . . . [and] must execute a legal release of future claims

prior to the payment of any compensation under this chapter.” It says, instead: 

As a requirement to making a request for relief under this chapter, the 

claimant waives any and all other remedies, causes of action, and other 

forms of relief or compensation . . . related to the claimant’s wrongful . . . 

imprisonment . . . [and] must execute a legal release prior to the payment of 

any compensation under this chapter.

Elsewhere, the plaintiffs contend that there is a “particular way in which the 

legislature codified a waiver and any idea of ‘exclusive remedies’ within the Act: there 

must be a legal release; it must then be held invalid; and there must be a subsequent tort 

payment ‘related to his or her wrongful conviction and incarceration.’” Appellants’ 

Opening Br. at 25 (emphasis added). That is the manner in which reimbursement

language of RCW 4.100.080(1) operates, because one can only reimburse something that 

was previously disbursed. When the tort award or settlement is received first, the way in 

which the legislature effectuated the requirement that WCPA compensation be an 

exclusive remedy was with the requirement that “[t]he claimant must execute a legal 

release prior to the payment of any compensation under this chapter.” RCW 

4.100.080(1). A claimant who has received a tort award or settlement will not be able to 

waive claims and execute a legal release.

“Waiver” and “release” have well-settled legal meanings. “Waive” means:
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1. To abandon, renounce, or surrender (a claim, privilege, right, etc.); to 

give up (a right or claim) voluntarily. • Ordinarily, to waive a right one 

must do it knowingly — with knowledge of the relevant facts.

BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY at 1894 (11th ed. 2019). Relevant meanings of “release” are:

1. Liberation from an obligation, duty, or demand; the act of giving up a 

right or claim to the person against whom it could have been enforced <the 

employee asked for a release from the noncompete agreement>. — Also 

termed discharge; surrender. 2. The relinquishment or concession of a

right, title, or claim <Benson’s effective release of the claim against 

Thompson’s estate precluded his filing a lawsuit>. 

Id. at 1530 (some emphasis omitted). To “give up a right or claim” is a meaning

common to both terms.

Whether an individual is waiving or releasing a past or future claim will generally 

be determined from the description of the claim being waived or released, not from the 

use of the words “past” or “future.” Thus, upon buying a ticket for a baseball game, one 

might give up a claim for any injury arising from the playing of that game, a claim that 

would inherently arise in the future. Conversely, an agreement to waive or release a 

claim for injury of a baseball game that occurred last year gives up a claim that inherently 

arose in the past.

The claims that the WCPA requires be waived are “remedies, causes of action, and 

other forms of relief or compensation against the state, any political subdivision of the 

state, and their officers, employees, agents, and volunteers related to the claimant’s 

wrongful conviction and imprisonment.” RCW 4.100.080(1) (emphasis added). “[T]he 
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claimant’s wrongful conviction and imprisonment” necessarily refers to the conviction 

and imprisonment that occurred in the past and gives rise to the claimant’s rights under 

the WCPA. 

Having settled their federal claims, the plaintiffs no longer had the ability to give 

up the relevant claims: they had already given them up. The “Settlement Agreement and 

Release of All Claims” signed with the federal defendants “release[d] and fully 

discharge[d]” the State, the officers, and various agents, from 

any and all manner of claims, demands, liabilities, obligations, damages, 

causes of action or suits . . . which Plaintiffs . . . may have against the 

released parties herein, arising from or in any way connected with [the 

Section 1983 action] . . . includ[ing] . . . all claims, demands, liabilities, 

obligations, damages, causes of action or suits . . . which have been . . . 

alleged in [the Section 1983 action] or otherwise arise from the events

described in the [Section 1983 action].

CP at 147 (some capitalization omitted). The only claims carved out from the broad 

scope of the settlement agreement and release were the plaintiffs’ pending WCPA claims.

Following settlement and execution of the settlement agreement and release of all 

claims, the plaintiffs were no longer capable of satisfying the conditions to compensation 

required by the WCPA: the condition that they waive all remedies, causes of action, and 

other forms of relief or compensation against the State and state actors related to their 
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wrongful conviction and imprisonment, and the condition that they execute a legal 

release.3

This plain reading of the operative provisions of the WCPA is, of course, strongly 

supported by the introductory language of RCW 4.100.080(1) that “the remedies and 

compensation provided under this chapter shall be exclusive to all other remedies at law 

and in equity against the state or any political subdivision of the state.”

The plaintiffs direct our attention to State v. Oakley, a Texas Supreme Court 

decision that construed Texas statutes as permitting a wrongfully convicted individual to 

sue for and recover a federal remedy before, but not after, obtaining wrongful 

imprisonment compensation from the State. 227 S.W.3d 58, 63 (Tex. 2007). The Texas 

statute was forward-looking, stating that a person compensated under the state statute 

“may not bring” another action involving the same subject matter against any 

governmental unit or an employee of any governmental unit. Id. (quoting TEX. CIV.

PRAC. & REM. CODE § 103.153(b), a statute entitled “Employees Not Liable After

Payment of Compensation” (emphasis added)).

 

3 The plaintiffs do not make the specious argument that “execute a legal release” 

means nothing more than to sign a document entitled “Release,” which can be done as 

easily after receiving a tort award or settlement payment as before receiving such an 

award or settlement. Fairly read, “execute a legal release” is an act having legal 

substance that cannot be done by a claimant who has already obtained a tort award or 

settlement from state actors. 
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In holding that a wrongly convicted person could be compensated in two forums 

under the Texas statute, the Texas Supreme Court observed that if “bar[ring] duplicative 

recoveries . . . had . . . been the [legislative] aim, legislators could have said simply that 

no one can recover both.” Id. It was the Washington Legislature’s aim that WCPA 

compensation, if obtained, be an exclusive remedy, and that is what its provisions ensure.

Finally, the plaintiffs emphasize that in the prior appeal, this court recognized that 

the WCPA, being a remedial statute, must be “‘liberally construed to suppress the evil 

and advance the remedy.’” Appellants’ Opening Br. at 18 (quoting Larson, 194 Wn. 

App. at 735). They argue that this requires us to narrowly construe what they 

characterize as the “exemption” created by RCW 4.100.080(1). Id. RCW 4.100.080(1) 

is not fairly characterized as an exemption, however. It creates conditions that apply to 

every individual requesting relief under the act. Moreover, the stated intent of the WCPA

is not to add one more remedy to others that might be available. It is addressed to the

“majority of those wrongly convicted in Washington state [who] have no remedy 

available under the law for the destruction of their personal lives resulting from errors in 

our criminal justice system,” to “provide an avenue for those who have been wrongly 

convicted in Washington state.” RCW 4.100.010 (emphasis added). 

Fairly read, the WCPA conditions compensation on a wrongly convicted person’s 

ability to provide an effective waiver and legal release of claims. The plaintiffs were 

unable to satisfy the statutory conditions.
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II. THE TRIAL COURT DID NOT ERR IN VACATING THE PLAINTIFFS’ JUDGMENT UNDER 

CR 60

The plaintiffs also briefly argue that the trial court improperly relied on CR 

60(b)(11) to vacate their judgment. They infer that the court relied on that subsection. 

Citing case law that characterizes subsection (11) as “‘a catch-all provision, intended to 

serve the ends of justice in extreme, unexpected situations,’” the plaintiffs argue their 

settlement with the federal defendants was expected at the time their judgment was 

entered, and the judgment was not appealed. Appellants’ Opening Br. at 46-47 (quoting 

In re Det. of Ward, 125 Wn. App. 374, 379, 104 P.3d 751 (2005)).

We review a trial court’s decision on a motion to vacate for an abuse of discretion. 

DeYoung v. Cenex, 100 Wn. App. 885, 894, 1 P.3d 587 (2000). A trial court abuses its 

discretion when it exercises it on untenable grounds or for manifestly unreasonable 

reasons. State ex rel. Carroll v. Junker, 79 Wn.2d 12, 26, 482 P.2d 775 (1971). 

The State moved for the judgment to be vacated under CR 60(b)(6), not CR 

60(b)(11). The former subsection authorizes a trial court to relieve a party from a final 

judgment when “[t]he judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior 

judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer 

equitable that the judgment should have prospective application.” The plaintiffs argue 

that it would be untenable to find inequity, because even the trial court recognized that 
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$2.25 million was not sufficient compensation for three individuals’ wrongful 

incarceration for four years. 

In orally granting the motion, the trial court used language suggesting it might be

relying on CR 60(b)(1), stating that it would vacate the judgment

under CR 60(b) due to irregularities that have occurred here with two 

different actions proceeding at the same time, one of those occurring after 

this case had been finalized and on appeal. The Court possesses the 

authority under CR 60(c) and (b) to make that finding. 

RP at 35 (emphasis added). CR 60(b)(1) identifies, as a reason authorizing a trial court to 

relieve a party from a final judgment, “[m]istakes, inadvertence, surprise, excusable 

neglect or irregularity in obtaining a judgment or order.” (Emphasis added.) 

We can affirm a trial court on any basis supported by the record. Nast v. Michels, 

107 Wn.2d 300, 308, 730 P.2d 54 (1986). The State reasonably identified CR 60(b)(6) as 

providing authority to vacate. CR 60(b)(6) does not turn on whether the judgment 

provides a remedy that is inequitable; it turns on whether “it is no longer equitable that

the judgment should have prospective application.” Applying the rule of ejusdem 

generis, inequity in a “judgment . . . hav[ing] prospective operation” should be construed 

to embrace reasons similar to the reasons for vacating judgments that have been satisfied, 

released, discharged, or that were based on a judgment that has been reversed or 

otherwise vacated. In this case, the similar inequity is that the judgment was predicated 
No. 35649-3-III 

Larson v. State 

on the plaintiffs' waiver and release of other claims-claims that, as it turns out, were not 

waived and could not be released. 

The plaintiffs also make a passing challenge to the fact that the statutory procedure 

of presenting the plaintiffs with a legal release to execute was not followed. As the State 

argues, however, the law does not require futile acts. E.g., Ancheta v. Daly, 77 Wn.2d 

255, 263, 461 P.2d 531 (1969). 

Affirmed. 

?Ju,wtVJ-, r 

Siddoway, J. 0 {; 

WE CONCUR: 

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Pennell, A.CJ. 

17