A Declaration of Mailing was filed with a Washington State King County Superior Court declaring particular time-sensitive documents were served on May 3, 2016 by mailing two copies: the first by Certified Mail – Return Receipt Requested postage prepaid, and the second by ordinary first class mail with first class postage prepaid. The person initialed the Declaration of Mailing and is an Associate Attorney of the law firm represented by the respondent.

The Certified Mail – Return Receipt Requested envelope has a red Pitney Bowes postage meter stamp with a date of May 03 2016 and there is no USPS postmark, or any other markings, on the envelope itself. There is a bar code sticker applied to the very bottom of the envelope. Inputting the Certified Mail tracking number on the USPS website states the envelope “Arrived at USPS Facility” on “May 4, 2016, 9:45 pm”.

The envelope sent via ordinary first class mail with first class postage prepaid has a red Pitney Bowes postage meter stamp with a date of May 06 2016 and there is no USPS postmark on the envelope itself. There is a bar code sticker applied to the very bottom of the envelope.

Is this a false, or fraudulent, Declaration of Mailing? And if so, who is responsible (the attorney, the respondent, or both), what does it do to the actual case, and what is the penalty?

It certainly appears to be false, or fraudulent, since someone declared they mailed both envelopes on May 3, 2016 and neither were. The first was mailed, “arrived” at the post office, the evening of the following day and the second was not even paid for or stamped paid until three days later on May 6, 2016.