State Supreme Court withdraws landmark ruling in public-records case

The state Supreme Court has withdrawn a landmark public-records ruling issued earlier this year, after King County complained that Justice Richard Sanders stood to personally gain from his opinion in the case.

The court's one-paragraph order, issued Friday, says it will schedule arguments and rule on other specifics "in due course."

What it means, however, is that the ruling on the public-records case involving Armen Yousoufian's 12-year quest to pry information about the public funding of Qwest Field from King County has been recalled because the county complained that it would have benefited Sanders, who had his own public-disclosure lawsuit pending in Thurston County.

Sanders wrote the majority opinion in the Yousoufian case, which the county claims could help Sanders recover more money in his case. Sanders has since removed himself from consideration in the case. He could not be reached for comment Monday.

Likewise, King County's lawyers did not return telephone messages.

In the January Yousoufian ruling, Sanders was joined by five other justices in finding that the $124,000 in fines and nearly $88,000 in attorney's fees paid by the county to Yousoufian wasn't enough.

The court sent the case back for reconsideration, along with criteria on how judges should apply penalties in state Public Disclosure Act cases in the future. Sanders and the other justices said the fines against the county should approach the $100-a-day maximum — meaning Yousoufian could seek nearly $900,000 from the county.

But King County's lawyers argued that Sanders had a conflict of interest and that he did not disclose that the ruling impacted a public-disclosure lawsuit he filed in Thurston County in 2005 against the state attorney general. His attorneys used the Yousoufian ruling to ask the court to increase fines Sanders had been awarded from $18,000 to nearly $600,000.

Sanders' lawsuit involved his effort to obtain documents from the attorney general regarding a visit he made with sex offenders while some had cases pending before the court. Sanders was later sanctioned by the Judicial Conduct Commission.

Sanders has insisted he has done nothing wrong and said he consulted with the court's ethics attorney before deciding to hear the case. He said his lawyer had sought the larger fines before the Yousoufian decision was handed down.

Michael Brannan, Yousoufian's attorney, said Monday that he disagreed with the high court's ruling.

"Sanders committed no impropriety," Brannan said, adding that the justice has repeatedly insisted he would not personally benefit from the opinion. Sanders told The Seattle Times that any money recovered would go to his lawyers.

"Moreover, five other justices signed on to the opinion; it's inconceivable that their collective critical faculties could be so flawed as to justify redoing the case," Brannan said.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706