Opinion ID: 2639328
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: collateral estoppel analysis

Text: The trial court and the Court of Appeals both decided this case on collateral estoppel grounds so we will begin our analysis there. Collateral estoppel applies in criminal cases to bar relitigation of a particular issue or fact previously determined by a valid and final judgment. State v. Williams, 132 Wash.2d 248, 253-54, 937 P.2d 1052 (1997); State v. Peele, 75 Wash.2d 28, 30, 448 P.2d 923 (1968). Collateral estoppel promotes judicial economy and prevents inconvenience, and even harassment, of parties. Reninger v. State Dep't of Corr., 134 Wash.2d 437, 449, 951 P.2d 782 (1998). Washington courts have never barred a criminal prosecution on the grounds of collateral estoppel. Generally, collateral estoppel requires: (1) the issue decided in the prior adjudication must be identical with the one presented in the second; (2) the prior adjudication must have ended in a final judgment on the merits; (3) the party against whom the plea of collateral estoppel is asserted must have been a party or in privity with a party to the prior litigation; and (4) application of doctrine must not work an injustice. Williams, 132 Wash.2d at 254, 937 P.2d 1052 (quoting State v. Cleveland, 58 Wash.App. 634, 639, 794 P.2d 546 (1990) (quoting Beagles v. Seattle First Nat'l Bank, 25 Wash. App. 925, 929, 610 P.2d 962 (1980))). Each element of the four-part test must be met, id. In this case, Snohomish County concedes the prosecuting authorities of sister counties within the same sovereign are in privity for collateral estoppel purposes. Williams, 132 Wash.2d at 256-57, 937 P.2d 1052; State v. Dupard, 93 Wash.2d 268, 273, 609 P.2d 961 (1980); State v. Sherwood, 71 Wash.App. 481, 488, 860 P.2d 407 (1993). And although the other three elements remain disputed, the question specifically posed to this Court is: whether the issue raised and resolved in the King County prosecution is identical to that which Bryant now seeks to bar in Snohomish County. The King County trial court determined: The court finds that on this record, Jeff Dorman, as an evidentiary source, was derived directly from Vincent Bryant's immunized testimony. CP at 39-44. Similarly, the Snohomish County trial court made the following finding: In light of Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972) and its progeny, whether Jeff Dorman's decision to cooperate with the state in the present case is derived from Vincent Bryant's immunized cooperation in King County is at issue. This is the same issue that was presented to Judge Mertel in the King County case. CP at 12. However, for the application of collateral estoppel the factual issues between the King and Snohomish prosecutions are different. The issue in Snohomish County must be: can Snohomish County establish affirmatively that it obtained its evidence independently and wholly independent of the immune source? This is a different issue than whether the King County prosecutor has independent evidence. Snohomish County had the right to establish that it had obtained evidence wholly independent of the immune statements. The issues presented in the two hearings different; therefore collateral estoppel does not apply.