WV Supreme Court Justice's Recusal Affects Fall Term's Docket
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia was scheduled to consider the plaintiffs’ petition for appeal in Perrine v. DuPont, but the motion docket on the Court’s website indicates that the Court deferred any decision. Ken Ward, Jr. wrote about the plaintiffs’ argument in yesterday’s Charleston Gazette.
The website does not identify any reason for the deferral, although I understand that there is a pending motion to consolidate the three appeals in the case (the plaintiffs’, and DuPont’s, which seek a new trial and indemnification from its co-defendant T. L. Diamond), which has not been ruled on yet, and which could affect how the appeals proceed. My post last month provided some background for the appeals.
But the Court’s decision to defer consideration could also be related to Justice Joseph Albright’s decision to recuse himself from participating in any case during the Fall Term, as he continues to recover from surgery performed in July. The Court issued this press release yesterday, which announces Justice Albright’s recusal and includes a link to his letter to Chief Justice Elliott E. "Spike" Maynard.
Justice Albright’s recusal resulted in the Court cancelling its afternoon argument docket on Tuesday, as well as yesterday’s motion and argument dockets, all of which are being rescheduled to dates later in the term.
Today the Court issued another press release, announcing that retired Justice Thomas E. McHugh will replace Justice Albright for the remainder of the term, and making some other changes to the Court’s docket.
