McHUGH, Justice: In this interlocutory appeal of the November 5, 2010, order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, 1 the defendants below— the City of Saint Albans, B.L. Tagayun and A.C. Truitt 2 (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Appellants")—challenge the trial court's refusal to grant summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. The underlying civil complaint filed by David A. Botkins (hereinafter "Mr. Botkins" or "Appellee") included the allegation that his civil rights had...
WORKMAN, Chief Justice. Petitioner Gregory Smith, a Commissioner on the Mingo County Commission, appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of mandamus by the Circuit Court of Mingo County, West Virginia. After successfully defending against a Petition for Removal, Petitioner Smith filed a complaint with the circuit court, seeking a writ of mandamus directing the Mingo County Sheriff and the Mingo County Commission to reimburse him for his costs and attorney's fees incurred in his defense....
WORKMAN, C.J.: The Petitioner, PNGI Charles Town Gaming, LLC, d/b/a Charles Town Races & Slots (hereinafter "CTR & S"), a non-party in the underlying action, 1 appeals the circuit court's Order enjoining it from excluding certain jockeys 2 from CTR & S's premises pending the outcome of the jockey's administrative appeal of the West Virginia Racing Commission's (hereinafter "Racing Commission") decision 3 to the circuit court. The Racing Commission suspended each jockey's occupational permit...
DAVIS, Justice: This case involves an appeal by West Virginia Employers' Mutual Insurance Company d/b/a BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Company (hereinafter referred to as "BrickStreet"), the petitioner herein and defendant below, from an "Agreed Judgment Order" entered by the Circuit Court of Jefferson County. The "Agreed Judgment Order" awarded to Summit Point Raceway Associates, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Summit Point"), the respondent herein and plaintiff below, the amount of $1,201,...
DAVIS, Justice: The petitioner herein and defendant/third-party plaintiff below, J.A. Street & Associates, Inc. (hereinafter "Street"), appeals from an order entered September 24, 2010, by the Circuit Court of Cabell County. By that order, the circuit court affirmed its previous order of July 20, 2010, and certified it as a final order pursuant to Rule 54(b) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure. The July 20, 2010, order granted the partial motion for summary judgment requested by the...
McHUGH, J.: The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles ("DMV"), through its Commissioner, Joe E. Miller, appeals a final order entered August 9, 2010, in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, in which the circuit court reversed the Commissioner's order revoking the driver's license of Appellee John Moredock for a period of six months. The Commissioner argues that the circuit court committed error in concluding that Appellee's due process rights were violated by the Commissioner's delay in...
PER CURIAM: This is an appeal by Robert C., petitioner/respondent below (hereinafter referred to as "Robert C."), from an order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County that transferred custody of his son, C.C., to the child's biological mother, Christine L. In this appeal, Robert C. contends that the circuit court did not have authority to transfer custody of the child to Christine L., and that the evidence was insufficient to support such transfer of custody. After a careful review of the...
McHUGH, Justice: The County Commission of Greenbrier County ("Commission") seeks a writ of prohibition in connection with the issuance of a writ of mandamus against it by the Honorable John L. Cummings on May 20, 2011. After finding that the Commission acted arbitrarily and capriciously by reducing the budget of Respondent James W. Childers, Sheriff of Greenbrier County ("Sheriff'), the trial court directed the Commission to: 1) allocate sufficient funds in the fiscal year 2011-12 budget for...
DAVIS, Justice: The petitioner herein and respondent below, Craig Griffith, State Tax Commissioner of West Virginia (hereinafter "Tax Commissioner"), 1 appeals from an order entered September 14, 2010, by the Circuit Court of Berkeley County. By that order, the circuit court reversed an earlier order of the Office of Tax Appeals; 2 found that W. Va.Code 11-13B-2(b)(5) (1987) (Repl.Vol.2008) is plain and unambiguous; and concluded that W. Va.C.S.R. 110-13B-2.6 (1988) is an invalid...
McHUGH, Justice: The matter before us involves two actions, consolidated by the Circuit Court of Berkeley County for appeal purposes, concerning the application of the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act 1 (hereinafter "WPCA" or "the Act"). Plaintiffs below, Mary Catherine Lehman and Patricia Ann Powell (hereinafter jointly referred to as "Appellants"), appeal the virtually identical July 7, 2010, orders granting summary judgment to the defendant below, United Bank, Inc. (...
DAVIS, Justice: In this appeal from an order imposing monetary sanctions against petitioners Joseph Casaccio (hereinafter referred to as "Mr. Casaccio") and National Indemnity Company (hereinafter referred to as "National Indemnity"), this Court is asked to determine whether West Virginia Trial Court Rule 25.10 permits a circuit court to impose sanctions upon the insurance carrier for an insured party when the insurance carrier fails, without good cause, to appear at court-ordered mediation...
JUSTICE McHUGH delivered the Opinion of the Court. McHugh, Justice: The pending matter involves three cases consolidated for purposes of appeal 1 to address challenges to the constitutionality of West Virginia Code 62-12-26 (2009), providing for a period of extended supervision following release from incarceration for certain sex offenders. While the particular arguments of the appellants vary, the collective basis for challenging the statute as facially unconstitutional on both federal...
DAVIS, Justice. The instant proceeding comes before this Court upon questions certified by the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, which questions ask us to determine the scope of the circuit court's authority to adjudicate the Hustons' lawsuit against the defendants herein. In the underlying litigation from which these questions have arisen, the plaintiffs below, William J. and Connie A. Huston (hereinafter "the Hustons"), sought to enforce the terms of a global settlement agreement, to which...
McHugh, J.: This is an appeal by David W. Kaufman from his conviction of first degree murder in the Circuit Court of Wood County, West Virginia. Upon the jury's recommendation of a sentence of life without mercy, the trial court so sentenced Appellant by order entered March 23, 2009. On appeal, Appellant argues that the trial court improperly admitted into evidence the victim's diary and certain statements by the victim to others, both of which recounted alleged threats and acts of violence by...
Per Curiam: Barbara Ann Carpenter, appellant/respondent below, appeals from an order of the Circuit Court of Putnam County, denying her petition for appeal from a contempt order of the Family Court of Putnam County. The family court's contempt order required the sale of Ms. Carpenter's home by her former husband, Charles Arthur Carpenter, Jr., appellee/petitioner below. Here, Ms. Carpenter argues that the family court erred in finding her in contempt and ordering the sale of her home. After a...
DAVIS, Justice. The petitioner herein, Foster Foundation (hereinafter referred to as "the Foundation"), requests this Court to issue a writ of certiorari to relieve it from a decision rendered August 14, 2009, by the respondent herein, the Court of Claims of the State of West Virginia (hereinafter referred to as "the Court of Claims"). In that opinion, the Court of Claims denied the Foundation's claim for reimbursement of $457,386.79 in certification fees charged by the co-respondent herein,...
DAVIS, Justice: In this case, Joe E. Miller, Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles (hereinafter referred to as "Commissioner Miller"), respondent below and appellant, appeals an order of the Circuit Court of Nicholas County that reversed Commissioner Miller's "Remand Final Order," which revoked the driver's license of Mr. Edward L. Sims, II (hereinafter referred to as "Mr. Sims"), petitioner below and appellee, following Mr. Sims' arrest for Driving under the Influence...
DAVIS, Justice. In this appeal, Larry S. White, II, defendant below (hereinafter referred to as "Mr. White"), challenges an order of the Circuit Court of Jackson County convicting him of one count of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony, and sentencing him to life with mercy for the first-degree murder conviction, and a consecutive sentence of one to five years for the conspiracy. Mr. White contends that the trial court committed the following errors: (1) failing...
Justice McHugh delivered the Opinion of the Court. McHUGH, Justice. Monongahela Power Company, Allegheny Power, and Allegheny Energy Service Corporation (collectively referred to as "Petitioners") seek a writ of prohibition in connection with the November 9, 2009, ruling of the Circuit Court of Marion County denying Petitioners' motion to dismiss the breach of contract complaint filed against them by Respondents Shell Equipment Company, Inc. ("Shell Equipment") and Shell Energy Company, Inc. (...
McHUGH, Justice: Petitioners The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission ("SSAC" or "WVSSAC") sought a writ of prohibition in connection with the November 30, 2010, issuance of a preliminary injunction by the Circuit Court of Kanawha County through which Respondents, four South Charleston High School football players, 1 were declared eligible to participate in the AAA state championship game. 2 By its grant of extraordinary relief, the trial court prevented the implementation of...
