Justia West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company's decision to rescind an insurance policy purchased for a derelict house Homeowner intended to remodel, holding that questions of material fact existed precluding summary judgment.After a fire occurred, damaging the house and some of its contents, Allstate announced that it was rescinding the homeowners' insurance policy issued to Homeowner, asserting that Homeowner digitally signed an application in which he falsely answered a request as to whether he would occupy the house within thirty days. Plaintiffs, including Homeowner, sued Allstate for breach of contract and unfair trade practices. The circuit court granted Allstate's motion to rescind the policy, concluding that there was no factual dispute that Homeowner had made false statements on his insurance application. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings, holding that questions of material fact existed regarding whether Plaintiff's answer to Allstate's thirty-day-occupancy question was false and whether the question was material to Allstate's issuance of the policy. View "McDowell v. Allstate Vehicle & Property Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the order of the circuit court denying Defendants' motion to dismiss the claims brought against them on grounds of workers' compensation immunity and immunity under the Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act, W. Va. Code 29-12A-1, et seq., holding that the circuit court erred.Plaintiff, whose husband died in a workplace accident, sued Defendants, two of her husband's supervisors, claiming that they were liable for his death based on theories of deliberate intent under W. Va. Code 23-4-2-(d)(2)(A) and the tort of intentional and reckless conduct. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the claims against them, but the circuit court denied the motion, finding that they could be held personally liable. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) workers' compensation immunity insulated Defendants from liability for claims other than for a claim under section 23-4-2(d)(2)(A); and (2) under no set of facts consistent with Plaintiff's allegations could she prove the elements of a claim for heightened deliberate intent. View "Edwards v. Star" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for unlawfully, knowingly, and willfully sending or causing to be sent and/or possessing material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, in violation of W. Va. Code 61-8C-3(a), holding that there was no error in the proceedings below.Specifically, the Supreme Court held that the circuit court did not err by (1) excluding expert testimony regarding the impact of Defendant's Autism Spectrum Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; (2) denying Defendant's motion to dismiss the superseding indictment or disqualify the prosecutor’s office; (3) determining that Defendant's recorded statement to law enforcement was voluntary; and (4) allowing testimony from the State's digital forensic computer analyst. View "State v. Delorenzo" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court held that the circuit court erred in its application of "the open and obvious doctrine" but correctly granted summary judgment for Defendants because there was no genuine issue for trial on the issue of negligence.Plaintiff brought this civil complaint for damages arising from injuries he sustained in a fall on Defendants' property. The circuit court granted summary judgment for Defendants on all claims, ruling that Plaintiff's claims were barred by application of W. Va. Code 55-7-28(a), otherwise known as the open and obvious doctrine, and that Plaintiff had failed to produce evidence of negligence on the part of Defendants. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the circuit court erred in its application of the open and obvious doctrine as a basis for granting summary judgment to Defendants; but (2) summary judgment was proper because none of the evidence produced by Plaintiff in response to Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment show that there was a genuine issue for trial on the issue of negligence. View "Butner v. Highlawn Memorial Park Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the circuit court's order dismissing Plaintiff's claim for negligence against the Logan County Board of Education under W. Va. Code 29-12A-4(c)(2), holding that Plaintiff's allegations were sufficient to permit the inference that the duty and proximate cause elements of a claim for negligence existed.Plaintiff brought this action against the Board alleging that he was severely bullied by his classmates while he was a student at Logan Middle School and that school officials knew of the bullying but maintained that nothing could be done about the problem. The circuit court dismissed Plaintiff's claims under W. Va. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), concluding, as relevant to this appeal, that Plaintiff had not adequately pleaded the duty and causation elements of his negligence claim. The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the circuit court's order dismissing Plaintiff's negligence claim, holding that Plaintiff's allegations were sufficient to permit the inference that the duty and proximate cause elements of a claim for negligence existed. View "Jones v. Logan County Bd. of Education" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court resentencing Petitioner, for purposes of this appeal, to an aggregate term of incarceration of five to twenty-five years for her convictions for child neglect resulting in death and gross child neglect creating a risk of substantial injury or death, holding that Petitioner was not entitled to relief.On appeal, Petitioner argued that the circuit court violated her right under the Sixth Amendment to conflict-free counsel and that the State violated Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by failing to disclose certain records. The Supreme Court disagreed and affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not err in finding that even if counsel's performance was deficient, the deficient performance did not adversely affect the outcome of the trial; and (2) there was no merit in Petitioner's contention that a Brady violation occurred in this case. View "State v. A.B." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated a portion of the circuit court's dispositional order terminating Petitioner's parental rights to his child, holding that the termination of Petitioner's parental rights was erroneously based upon a condition of abuse and neglect upon which Petitioner was never adjudicated.The Department of Health and Human Resources filed an abuse and neglect petition alleging medical neglect, educational neglect, and substance abuse. Petitioner stipulated to medical and educational neglect, and the circuit court adjudicated Petitioner neglectful on that sole basis. The circuit court then terminated Petitioner's parental rights. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment in part, holding (1) Petitioner's termination improperly presumed a substance abuse disorder that was never proven and therefore not the subject of Petitioner's adjudication; and (2) the circuit court erred in terminating Petitioner's parental rights based upon failure to comply with an improvement period that was not properly implemented in accordance with statutory requirements. View "In re K.L." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) ordering Equitrans, LC, a natural gas interstate pipeline company, to permit Hope Gas to connect a natural gas field tap on property owned by Ronald and Ashton Hall to Equitrans' "gathering line," holding that the PSC properly exercised jurisdiction in this matter.Seeking to divest itself of its gathering facilities Equitrans applied to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) to abandon and sell its gathering facilities. FERC approved the application. When Equitrans denied Hope Gas's request to reestablish a service connection to the Halls' residence the Halls filed their complaint with the PSC. The PSC found that it had jurisdiction over the gathering facilities. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the PSC properly exercised jurisdiction over the gathering facility at issue. View "Equitrans, L.P. v. Public Service Comm'n of W. Va." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court denying Petitioner's motion to suppress evidence that law enforcement discovered her minor child in Petitioner's home after the child absconded from her grandparents' supervision, holding that there was no error.Petitioner entered a conditional plea to one count of child concealment. At issue on appeal, was the trial court's denial of Petitioner's motion to suppress evidence that her child, who had been adjudicated as a status offender for truancy and placed in a temporary guardianship with her grandparents, was discovered in her home after escaping from her grandparents' supervision five months prior. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the officers had a reasonable belief that the child lived with Petitioner at her apartment and was within the residence at the time they entered; and (2) therefore, there was no error in the circuit court's denial of Petitioner's motion to suppress. View "State v. Pennington" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court reversing the orders issued by Petitioner while sitting as the Berkeley County Board of Assessment Appeals arising from appeals of ad valorem assessments owned by Taxpayers, as determined by the Berkeley County Assessor for the 2019 tax year, holding that circuit court erred in reversing the Board.Although the two consolidated appeals dealt with different pieces of property owned by two different entities the Supreme Court concluded that resolution dependent on two overarching questions common to both appeals. The Court then held (1) Petitioner waived any objection to the Assessor not being named as a party to this action; and (2) the circuit court erred in determining the assessments as affirmed by the Board were not supported by substantial evidence or were otherwise in contravention of any regulation, statute, or constitutional provision. View "Berkeley County Council v. Government Properties Income Trust LLC" on Justia Law