Felonies

In a potentially very important ruling for the obligations of prosecutors in West Virginia to disclose evidence, the state Supreme Court ruled that the fact that a man's due process rights were violated when the prosecution negotiated a plea bargain with him, knowing...

The rulebook governing whether a piece of evidence should be admitted into a criminal trial is long and complex. Judges are supposed to follow those rules closely, but ultimately it often comes down to a judgment call. These decisions can dramatically affect the...

What does it mean to prove something “beyond a reasonable doubt?” Judges and juries in a criminal case are supposed to hold prosecutors to a high standard. If, at the trial’s conclusion, jurors have a reasonable doubt that the defendant did what the...

The West Virginia government punishes people for a wide variety of crimes. Of course, some types of criminal activity are more serious than others. We do not expect someone convicted of stealing candy to receive the same level of punishment as someone found guilty of...