West Virginia

Ex-Dinsmore partner wins dismissal of sex-with-client ethics charges, despite accepting sanction

The former managing partner of Dinsmore & Shohl’s Charleston, West Virginia, office urged the state supreme court to accept a recommended 90-day suspension against him stemming from sex with a one-time client, but the court disregarded his entreaty. Instead, the court dismissed the ethics charges against the lawyer, John Hussell,…

Nov 26, 2014 8:22 AM CST

Prosecutor removed from office over domestic case will go into private practice

A West Virginia prosecutor who faces misdemeanor charges over alleged domestic incidents involving his ex-wife and 11-year-old son has opted not to appeal a judicial panel’s determination that he should be removed from office. “My family and I have been attacked for almost a year. I love being a prosecutor,…

Nov 4, 2014 10:50 AM CST

Judge accused of courthouse sex was ‘seduced and taken advantage of,’ her lawyer says

A West Virginia judge accused of a sexual relationship with a community corrections director was “seduced and taken advantage of,” her lawyer argued in her ethics case before the state supreme court. The state Judicial Hearing Board has recommended a three-year suspension without pay for Judge Jaymie Godwin Wilfong; her…

Oct 22, 2014 10:25 AM CDT

Truancy crackdown is linked to spike in youth confinement rate in West Virginia

A West Virginia task force is considering alternatives to juvenile confinement after a crackdown on truancy may have contributed to a spike in the number of youths confined to juvenile facilities. Though West Virginia has one of the lowest juvenile crime rates in the country, it outpaced every other state…

Oct 14, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

Pit bull gets reprieve from state high court, but this dog was no Lassie, dissent says

West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals has granted a reprieve to a pit bull terrier named Major, but it may be too late to save the dog, which has deteriorated during his confinement at an animal shelter. The court ruled last Thursday that a city ordinance giving a municipal court…

Oct 6, 2014 6:15 AM CDT

Lawyer is suspended in third state after police standoff

A third state has temporarily suspended a West Virginia lawyer accused of firing his gun during a standoff with police. Kentucky temporarily suspended lawyer Mark Bramble on Aug. 22, acting on a petition for reciprocal discipline, report the Legal Profession Blog, WSAZ and the Charleston Daily Mail. Bramble had resigned…

Aug 26, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

Ex-judge is sentenced to 4 years in federal corruption case

A former longtime West Virginia judge was sentenced Monday to four years and two months in prison for his role in a Mingo County corruption case. Comparing Michael Thornsbury’s actions to those of a Third World dictator, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas E. Johnston said he would have given Thornsbury…

Jun 9, 2014 8:15 PM CDT

Feds seek ‘very substantial’ sentence for corrupt judge who had ‘enormous power’ in his county

Federal prosecutors are seeking a “very substantial” prison sentence for a former West Virginia judge, arguing that the guideline sentence for the crime to which he pleaded guilty isn’t sufficient to send a message that will deter others. Former Mingo Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury pleaded guilty last year to conspiring…

Jun 4, 2014 6:10 PM CDT

Prosecutor agrees he won’t use corporal punishment to discipline kids in deal to get charges dropped

A West Virginia prosecutor has agreed he won’t use corporal punishment to discipline his children as part of a pretrial diversion program that could result in dismissal of two misdemeanor charges against him. The charges against Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants will be dismissed after one year if he successfully…

May 22, 2014 5:15 PM CDT

State AG’s suit says school officials punished middle-school students for reporting sexual abuse

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has filed a lawsuit that alleges school officials in Mingo County retaliated against two middle-school students who reported sexual abuse last year and protected the two male youths they accused. The suit (PDF) claims that school officials minimalized the allegations, undertook an ineffective investigation,…

May 9, 2014 4:35 PM CDT

Disciplining son with a belt is a constitutional right, prosecutor says in bid to get charge tossed

A West Virginia prosecutor maintains he has a constitutional right to discipline his son with a belt. Kanawha County Prosecutor Mark Plants is seeking dismissal of a misdemeanor domestic battery charge against him for allegedly striking his 11-year-old son with a leather belt, report the Charleston Gazette and WSAZ. Prosecutors…

Apr 10, 2014 12:10 PM CDT

Witness-intimidation case against lawyer is dropped

All charges have been dropped against a West Virginia lawyer and his private investigator in a witness-intimidation case, following the deaths of two prosecution witnesses. Attorney Paul J. Harris and investigator Franklin D. Streets Jr., both 50, had been accused of paying $1,200 to a witness in a criminal case…

Feb 21, 2014 3:40 PM CST

300,000 W.Va. residents told not to drink water after chemical leak; US opens criminal probe

Don’t drink the water. Don’t wash, rinse, cook or bathe with it, either. That’s the message for some 300,000 West Virginians as the result of a Thursday leak from a 48,000-gallon tank at a chemical storage facility near the Elk River. Federal and state officials have already opened investigations into…

Jan 10, 2014 10:30 PM CST

4th Circuit rejects widow’s fraud claim over info withheld from defendant’s expert witnesses

Rejecting a widow’s argument that a coal company committed a fraud on the court by withholding information from its own experts supporting her husband’s claim of black lung disease in a worker’s compensation case, a federal appeals court has dismissed her suit seeking additional benefits. In a Friday opinion (PDF),…

Jan 3, 2014 9:25 PM CST

Lawyer charged as accessory in New Year’s Day shooting, accused of concealing evidence

A West Virginia lawyer is facing a felony case after allegedly concealing evidence concerning a friend who police say shot a man after a New Year’s Day fight over pizza delivery. Jamison T. Conrad, 37, is charged as an accessory after the fact, accused of taking a cellphone from his…

Jan 3, 2014 5:40 PM CST