January 10, 2002
1. Eugene I. Dolly v. SER William Haines, No. 011933. Petitioner appeals from the circuit court’s denial of his petition for habeas corpus relief arising out of his conviction for first degree murder with a recommendation of mercy.
Refuse 5-0
2. Raymond L. Dunn v. Thomas L. Watson, No. 011890 & No. 012265. Petitioner appeals from the circuit court’s award of summary judgment in favor of respondents.
Grant 3-2
[ Davis, C.J., Maynard, J. ]
3. State of West Virginia v. Karen Meetze, No. 012149. Defendant was charged with attempted murder and malicious assault. She was found not guilty by reason of mental illness following a plea hearing. Defendant seeks to set aside one of the charges asserting that they are duplicative and, therefore, violative of double jeopardy principles.
Refuse 5-0
4. Linda McGraw, Administratrix of the Estate of Floyd Cassell and Lavenia Cassell v. The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, as agent for Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, No. 012150. Plaintiff appeals from the circuit court’s award of summary judgment in favor of defendant in this wrongful death action.
Refuse 4-1
[ McGraw, J. ]
5. Calvin J. Martin v. The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles and Joe E. Miller, Commissioner, No. 012162. The Division of Motor Vehicles seeks a reversal of the circuit court’s order that reversed the final order of the Commissioner revoking respondent’s driver’s license for a period of at least six months based upon the Commissioner’s finding that respondent had driven a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The DMV seeks a reinstatement of the Commissioner’s final order.
Refuse 4-1
[ Maynard, J. ]
6. Michael Butcher v. Joe E. Miller, Commissioner W. Va. Division Of Motor Vehicles, No. 012164. Petitioner appeals from the circuit court’s order upholding the decision of the Division Of Motor Vehicles suspending petitioner’s driver’s license for a period of ten years based upon his refusal to take the designated secondary chemical test.
Grant 3-2
[ Davis, C.J., Maynard, J. ]
7. State ex rel. Juanita S. Robertson v. Stacie Hundley, Juvenile, No. 012168. Petitioner, a juvenile, seeks a reversal of the circuit court’s order transferring her custody to the Department of Health and Human Resources.
Refuse 4-1
[ Starcher, J. ]
8. David S. Meadows, Sheriff v. David Hopkins and the Nicholas County Deputy Civil Service Commission, No. 012170. Petitioner appeals from the circuit court’s order vacating the order of the Nicholas County Deputy Civil Service Commission reinstating petitioner as a Deputy Sheriff finding that the Commission did not have the authority to order the reinstatement.
Grant 3-2
[ Maynard, J., McGraw, J. ]
9. Deanna L. Miller v. David W. Miller, No. 012179. Defendant husband appeals from the circuit court’s final divorce order and asserts various errors in the equitable distribution of marital assets. Petitioner seeks a reversal and a remand to the circuit court for an entry of a final order consistent with defendant husband’s grounds for appeal.
Refuse 5-0
10. State ex rel. Ricky Penwell v. Harold Painter, Warden, No. 012191. Petitioner appeals from the circuit court’s order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Accept To Motion Docket
11. Brooke County Solid Waste Authority v. Valero Terrestrial Corp., No. 012085. The petitioner, Valero Terrestrial Corporation, appeals from orders entered in the Circuit Court of Brooke County granting the respondents, Brooke County Solid Waste Authority and Terri Patterson, permanent injunctive relief and attorney fees, with regard to petitioner Valero’s landfill and solid waste sewage sludge processing facility near Weirton, West Virginia. The orders of the Circuit Court directed petitioner Valero to cease operations at the facility and to engage in clean-up and removal activities. Petitioner Valero raises a number of assignments of error, including the assertion that its due process rights were violated.
Refuse 5-0
12. State of West Virginia v. Jerry Lee Hess, Jr., No. 012093. The petitioner, Jerry Lee Hess, Jr., appeals from his conviction in the Circuit Court of Berkeley County of the offense of murder of the first degree, without mercy. The petitioner allegedly murdered a female companion in an orchard in Berkeley County after the petitioner and his companion left a nightclub. The petitioner raises a number of assignments of error.
Accept To Motion Docket
13. State of West Virginia v. Edwin Mark Taylor, No. 012112. The petitioner, Edwin Mack Taylor, challenges his conviction in the Circuit Court of Grant County of the grand larceny of a 1991 GMC Suburban Van. In addition, the petitioner challenges the subsequent recidivist proceeding filed against him which resulted in the imposition by the Circuit Court of an enhanced penitentiary sentence. The petitioner raises a number of assignments of error.
Grant 3-2
[ Davis, C.J., Maynard, J. ]
14. State of West Virginia v. Joyce Louise Smith, No. 012169. The petitioner, Joyce Smith, challenges her conviction in the Circuit Court of Ohio County of the misdemeanor offense of embezzlement. The petitioner, an employee of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, allegedly converted food stamp benefits to her own use. The petitioner contends that her conviction (which was upon a lesser included offense under an indictment for felony embezzlement) was barred by the 1 year statute of limitations on misdemeanor offenses.
Refuse 5-0
15. Randle L. Miller v. Randall A. Jeffrey, Laurel Coal Corp., No. 012181. The petitioner and plaintiff below, Randle L. Miller, appeals from: (1) a summary judgment entered in the Circuit Court of Boone County in favor of respondent Hobet Mining, Inc., and (2) a jury verdict returned in that Court in favor of respondent Laurel Coal Corp. The action arose following an accident on the property of Hobet Mining wherein the petitioner’s vehicle was struck by a vehicle operated by an employee of Laurel Coal Corp. The petitioner contends, inter alia, that the Circuit Court committed error in allowing the jury to consider the petitioner’s nonuse of a seat belt upon the issue of negligence, rather than limiting such consideration solely to the issue of damages.
Grant 3-2
[ Davis, C.J., Maynard, J. ]
16. Martha Hazel Bragg Smith v. Arthur Smith, No. 012186. The petitioner, Arthur Smith, appeals from a summary judgment entered in the Circuit Court of Mingo County in favor of the respondent, Martha Hazel Bragg Smith (the petitioner’s former wife). In so ruling, the Circuit Court granted the respondent’s request to partition the parties’ real property, even though a final decree concerning the property had been entered in 1975 in the divorce action. In granting summary judgment, the Circuit Court concluded that no disposition or partition of the real property had been made in the 1975 decree. The petitioner contends, inter alia, that the Circuit Court lacked jurisdiction to grant a partition of the parties’ real property.
Accept To Motion Docket
17. Robert F. Painter v. Malcolm J. Coleman, Claude East, Jr., No. 012188. The petitioners, Malcolm Coleman, Claude East and B.C. Wilkerson, appeal from an order entered in the Circuit Court of Fayette County holding that respondents O’Neta Shorter and Hilda Allen were entitled to the balance of the estate of Curtis Coleman, deceased. Although respondents Shorter and Allen were named in decedent Coleman’s will as beneficiaries in the event the decedent and his wife died simultaneously, the will had no residuary clause to cover the fact that the decedent’s wife predeceased him. The petitioners contend that, as the intestate heirs of decedent Coleman, they should have been awarded the balance of the decedent’s estate.
Grant 5-0
18. Samuel C. Hazzard, Jr. v. Cabell Huntington Hospital, Inc., No. 012189. The petitioners, Samuel C. Hazzard, Sr., and Ardelia Hazzard, appeal from an order entered in the Circuit Court of McDowell County dismissing their personal injury action against the respondents, Cabell Huntington Hospital, Inc., and J. R. Traylor, M.D., for improper venue. According to the Circuit Court all of the events alleged by the petitioners to have caused a disease contracted by Mr. Hazzard while at Cabell Huntington Hospital occurred in Cabell County. The petitioners contend, inter alia, that the "substantial damage" sustained by Mr. Hazzard from the disease, which may be considered for venue purposes, occurred in McDowell County and that, therefore, venue in that County was proper.
Refuse 4-1
[ McGraw, J. ]
19. Robert Stillwell v. American Reliable Insurance Company, No. 012231. The petitioners, American Reliable Insurance Company, American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida and Campbell Insurance Services, Inc., appeal from orders entered in the Circuit Court of Ohio County refusing their motion to compel arbitration with regard to an insurance coverage dispute between the petitioners and the respondent-insureds, Robert and Helen Stillwell. The petitioners moved to compel arbitration in an unfair insurance settlement practices action filed by the Stillwells. The petitioners contend that the Circuit Court should have granted the motion to compel arbitration as a matter of law. It should be noted that the petitioners’ related petition for a writ of prohibition was refused by this Court in October 2001.
Refuse 4-1
[ Maynard, J. ]
20. William A. James, Sr. v. Warden, William M. Fox, No. 011176. Convicted sexual offender challenges public registration requirements under current Sexual Offender Registration Act as an unconstitutional ex post facto law.
Refuse 4-1
[ Starcher, J. ]
21. Ronald L. Matheny and Sherry Matheny v. Fairmont General Hospital, Inc. and Robert Thompson, M.D., No. 011468. Plaintiffs appeal from the circuit court’s order denying their motion for a new trial after an adverse jury verdict in this medical malpractice action.
Grant 3-2
[ Maynard, J., Albright, J. ]