Keene v. Edie
Supreme Court of Washington
935 P.2d 588 (Wash. 1997)
Sharon Keene (plaintiff) sued Ronald Edie and his wife Judith Evans (defendants), alleging Edie had sexually molested her as a child, and obtained a writ of attachment against real estate the couple owned as community property. Keene prevailed against Edie personally but not against Evans, and Edie lacked sufficient individual assets to satisfy the judgment. The trial court allowed Keene to execute her judgment against Edie's interest in the community real property, giving her an undivided one-half interest; the appellate court reversed, holding community real property was categorically off-limits and effectively immunizing married tortfeasors whose only assets were community real estate. A companion case, Scappini v. Warren, involving a similarly situated plaintiff, reached the opposite result and was consolidated with Keene's for review.
Whether the victim of a tort committed by a married tortfeasor in his separate capacity may execute a judgment based on the tort claim against the tortfeasor's interest in community real property.