Attorney Robert Craig Van Siclen's Legal Cases

Violent crime

State v. Roberson

N/A

OUTCOME: Defense verdict for Both Mr. and Mrs. Roberson

The Robersons were caught up in the infamous Wenatchee Sex Ring Cases in which a detective in the Wenatchee Police Department undertook to investigate multiple allegations of child sex abuse allegedly ... occurring in numerous homes and families in Chelan and Douglas Counties, Washington. Robert Roberson was the pastor of a church in which it was falsely alleged that every adult in this church regularly had sex with every child in the church. Pastor Roberson had come to the assistance of certain members of his church who the detective claimed had sex with all of their children and with the children of many other families in the community. When Pastor Roberson began advocating for the release and freedom of his parishioners, the detective then targeted the pastor, his wife and one of the Sunday School teachers as leaders in this alleged Wenatchee Sex Ring. This case made international news headlines and is more fully reported by Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper reporters Andrew Schneider and Mike Barber.

Violent crime

State v. Sims

N/A

OUTCOME: Defense Verdict

Part of the infamous "Wenatchee Sex Ring Case," Honnah Sims was the Sunday School teacher in Wenatchee who publicly stood up for Pastor and Mrs. Robert Roberson. It was falsely alleged that she had bee ... n a leader in the church in organizing the sexual abuse of every child in the church by every adult that were in attendance. The false allegations that were made against her came from a child who had become the foster child of the leading criminal investigator in the City of Wenatchee, Washington's police department. Upon returning with the verdict, the jury was so incensed by the case that they remained to discuss the case with the media, indicating that there was absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Ms. Sims had either organized or participated in any sexual abuse of children. This was a significant case in Central Washington in 1995 due to the fact that Ms. Sims was the first person to be acquitted of the false charges of sexually abusing and raping children, setting the stage for the subsequent acquittal of Pastor and Mrs. Roby Roberson and later, of other people in the community who had been falsely accused of these horrible crimes and who either were coerced into making false confessions or who were wrongly found guilty of perpetrating these crimes.

Violent crime

Harold and Idella Everett v. State of Washington

N/A

OUTCOME: Wrongful conviction reversed

Another of the infamous "Wenatchee Sex Ring Cases," Everett and Idella Everett had been wrongly convicted of raping and abusing all of the children in their family, and elsewhere within the Wenatchee W ... ashington area. When one of their daughters who had previously testified that she and her siblings had been regularly raped by both of her parents recanted and stated, publicly that she had been coerced into making these false statements against her parents, and later against many other people in the community, through this office a Personal Restraint Petition was filed on behalf of the Everetts resulting in the Washington State Supreme Court ordering that a hearing be held and appointed Whitman County Superior Court Judge Wallis Friel to conduct a fact finding hearing to ascertain whether or not the Everetts' convictions should be reversed. Judge Friel found that the investigative actions of the investigating detective and those of Children Protective Service caseworkers was faulty, if not outright highly irregular and recommended that the Washington appellate court grant the Everetts a new trial. After being released from prison as a result of the filing of the PRP in this case, the Everetts were never re-tried, thereby assuring them of their freedom.

Constitutional

Rodriquez, et al. v. Robert Perez, City of Wenatchee and others

N/A

OUTCOME: Successful outcome for all plaintiffs

Another of the infamous Wenatchee "Sex Ring Cases," in this civil rights action against Det. Robert Perez and the City of Wenatchee, County of Chelan and State of Washington, as well as other independe ... ntly named individuals, the plaintiffs established the rule of law in the State of Washington that police officials may be liability in damages for negligent police investigation if the negligence results in the break-up of the family. The plaintiffs claimed that Det. Perez improperly investigated a case in which Perez alleged that the plaintiffs had been involved in raping their children and raping other children in a church located in East Wenatchee. Through protracted litigation lasting from 1997 through and into 2008, this office, in representing these people obtained favorable out-of-court settlements for the plaintiffs.

Personal injury

Everett v. Wenatchee

N/A

OUTCOME: Successful out-of-court settlement

Mr. and Mrs. Everett were charged with and convicted of raping all of their children based on false allegations of such abuse made by one of their daughters who had become a foster daughter of the chie ... f investigative police officer, Robert Perez. This complicated litigation was ultimately settled short of trial.

Personal injury

Gibson v. City of Tacoma and State of Washington

N/A

OUTCOME: Successfully settled after extensive litigation

The plaintiff in this case was seriously injured when an embankment alongside a roadway in Tacoma, Washington, slid and otherwise fell on the plaintiff, causing her to sustain serious personal injuries ... . This case ultimately went to the appellate courts of Washington State, resulting in rulings mostly favorable to the plaintff.

Personal injury

Neilson v. Vashon Island School District

N/A

OUTCOME: Successful outcome on appeal

The plaintiff was a certificated educator in the Vashon Island School District who received unfavorable in inappropriate discipline charges agaisnt her. This case made its way into the Washington State ... appellate courts.

Personal injury

English, et al. v. Cessna Aircraft Company

N/A

OUTCOME: Successfully negotiated out-of-court settlement

the plaintiffs, English and Gerhards, sued Cessna Aircraft Company after they were involved in a serious private aviation accident resulting in serious and permanent injuries when they tried to land a ... Cessna 172 aircraft after it's engine had abruptly stopped running shortly after take-off. Through extensive outside investigation, testing of aircraft components and accident reconstruction, it was established that the aircraft was not properly equipped with adequate drains to drain and remove all water that might inadvertently enter the fuel system of the aircraft that caused the engine to stop running. This case was extremely contentious and its ultimate successful outcome came in large part from plaintiffs' counsel refusing to give up on the case and involving truly skilled and knowledgeable expert witnesses.

Telecommunications

[Plaintiff] v. Alcatel

N/A

OUTCOME: Successful out-of-court settlement

The plaintiff, an expert in intellectual property matters, after inventing certain devices and setting up a corporation to produce and market those devices, sold his business to Alcatel, a large teleco ... mmunications company from France. The plaintiff alleged that Alcatel breached the buy-sell agreement that existed between themselves by not paying to the plaintiff certain sums of money the plaintiff claimed entltlement to under the terms and conditions of the contract existing between themselves. This case was lodged in the United States Federal District Court in Spokane, Washington, being on the opposite side of the State from the offices of Van Siclen, Stocks & Firkins, further adding to the complexity and difficulty of this extraordinarily complex and tough litigation. The defendant attempted to dodge certain discovery that was pending with them by invoking the provisions of French law which the defendant claimed precluded it from releasing certain documents and other discovery materials deemed material to the plaintiff's case by myself and other co-counsel. This stand-off was resolved when the Federal Court Judge ruled that if the defendant did not release to the plaintiff's counsel the requested documents, the Court would consider the possibility of striking all of the defendant's defenses and allowing a default judgment to be entered. When this order was entered by the Court, the defendant immediately requested that the plaintiff engage with the defendants in settlement negotiations. The case settled in excess of twenty million dollars.

Contracts and agreements

Harkey, et al. v. Kingen, et al.

N/A

OUTCOME: Judgment for client

In this extremely complicated litigation, Harkey was induced by shareholders of a closely held corporation to invest multiples of millions of dollars in a casino that the shareholders had been trying t ... o start up. Running out of money and the ability to borrow further to finance the purchasing and reconstruction of a building to house the newly created casino, and to start up and run the casino and restaurant business, they requested assistance from Mr. Harkey. In doing so, although they disclosed the existence of an underlying loan against the business and property, they did not advise him that if he guaranteed certain loans of the corporation that he would thereby also be guaranteeing another underlying loan that the shareholders had previously obtained and spent. When the business failed, some of the shareholders refused to pay for their share of the shortfall realized in the construction, renovation and starting up and running this casino and restaurant business. As a result thereof, all of the shareholders were sued by the bank that had previously loaned money to the first group of shareholders. This case is presently on appeal to the Washington State Court of Appeals, lodged there by some of the first shareholders against whom judgments were obtained.

Robert Craig Van Siclen's Legal Cases (12)

State v. Roberson

State v. Sims

Harold and Idella Everett v. State of Washington

Rodriquez, et al. v. Robert Perez, City of Wenatchee and others

Everett v. Wenatchee

Gibson v. City of Tacoma and State of Washington

Neilson v. Vashon Island School District

English, et al. v. Cessna Aircraft Company

[Plaintiff] v. Alcatel

Harkey, et al. v. Kingen, et al.