Hill v. Stowers

• Citation: 680 S.E.2d 66
• Decision Date: 19 May 2009
• Docket Number: No. 34143.,34143.
• Court: Supreme Court of West Virginia
• Parties: Terry HILL, Plaintiff Below, Appellant v. Gregory Brent STOWERS, Defendant Below, Appellee.

680 S.E.2d 66

Terry HILL, Plaintiff Below, Appellant v. Gregory Brent STOWERS, Defendant Below, Appellee.

No. 34143.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted February 24, 2009.

Decided May 19, 2009.

Syllabus by the Court

1. "The trial court, in appraising the sufficiency of a complaint on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, should not dismiss the complaint unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)." Syllabus Point 3, Chapman v. Kane Transfer Co., Inc., 160 W.Va. 530, 236 S.E.2d 207 (1977).

2. "Appellate review of a circuit court's order granting a motion to dismiss a complaint is de novo." Syllabus Point 2, State ex rel. McGraw v. Scott Runyan Pontiac-Buick, Inc., 194 W.Va. 770, 461 S.E.2d 516 (1995).

3. "The following is the appropriate test to determine when a State statute gives rise by implication to a private cause of action: (1) the plaintiff must be a member of the class for whose benefit the statute was enacted; (2) consideration must be given to legislative intent, express or implied, to determine whether a private cause of action was intended; (3) an analysis must be made of whether a private cause of action is consistent with the underlying purposes of the legislative scheme; and (4) such private cause of action must not intrude into an area delegated exclusively to the federal government." Syllabus Point 1, Hurley v. Allied Chemical Corp., 164 W.Va. 268, 262 S.E.2d 757 (1980).

4. "`The general rule with regard to proof of damages is that such proof cannot be sustained by mere speculation or conjecture.' Syllabus Point 1, Spencer v. Steinbrecher, 152 W.Va. 490, 164 S.E.2d 710 (1968)." Syllabus Point 6, Taylor v. Elkins Home Show, Inc., 210 W.Va. 612, 558 S.E.2d 611 (2001).

Robert A. Goldberg, Esq., Goldberg Law Office, Larry G. Kopelman, Esq., Kopelman & Associates, LC, Charleston, WV, for Appellant.

Robert B. Allen, Esq., Stephanie D. Thacker, Esq., Allen Guthrie & Thomas, PLLC, Charleston, WV, for Appellee.

PER CURIAM:

This case is before this Court upon appeal of a final order of the Circuit Court of Lincoln County entered on October 1, 2007, dismissing a complaint filed by the appellant and plaintiff below, Terry Hill, against the appellee and defendant below, Gregory Stowers. Mr. Hill alleged that he was defeated in the 1996 general election for Circuit Clerk of Lincoln County as a result of Mr. Stowers's illegal vote-buying activities. Mr. Hill sought monetary damages. The circuit court dismissed Mr. Hill's complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure¹ finding that a candidate for public office does not have a property right to win an election; that the cause of action asserted by Mr. Hill does not exist; that it would be contrary to public policy to allow a losing candidate in an election to collect monetary damages from his opponent; and that Mr. Hill's exclusive remedy was to file an election contest.

In this appeal, Mr. Hill seeks reinstatement of his lawsuit. He also contends that the Honorable Jay M. Hoke, Judge of the Circuit Court of Lincoln County who presided over this case below, should be disqualified and that a different circuit judge should be appointed to the case. This Court has before it the petition for appeal, the entire record, and the briefs and argument of counsel. For the reasons set forth below, the final order is affirmed.

I. FACTS

During the 1996 general election for the Office of Circuit Clerk of Lincoln County, Mr. Hill and Mr. Stowers conducted write-in campaigns. Mr. Stowers was the incumbent because he had been appointed to fill the office several months earlier when the former circuit clerk, Shirley Mullins, retired and withdrew from the election as the Democrat nominee.² Mr. Stowers was declared the winner in the 1996 election with a margin of victory of approximately 600 votes. Mr. Hill did not contest the election. Mr. Stowers was re-elected in 2000 and 2004.³

On December 29, 2005, Mr. Stowers pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia to one count of buying votes⁴ in connection with the May 2004 primary election in Lincoln County. He was sentenced to six months in prison. Thereafter, on June 5, 2006, Mr. Hill filed this lawsuit against Mr. Stowers alleging that Mr. Stowers won the 1996 election because of unlawful vote-buying. In particular, the complaint alleged that

[o]n or about May 4, 2005, defendant Gregory B. Stowers and others, were indicted by a federal grand jury pursuant to a Second Superseding Indictment alleging that defendant Gregory B. Stowers knowingly conspired and undertook actions of knowing and willfully paying and offering to pay voters in Lincoln County for voting in various elections since the Spring of 1990 including but not limited to the general election of 1996 for the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court of Lincoln County.

Mr. Hill asserted that Mr. Stowers had violated his constitutional right to run for and hold public office; that Mr. Stowers had violated statutory law in West Virginia pertaining to the administration of elections; that Mr. Stowers had been unjustly enriched and had improperly benefitted from the compensation, benefits, and emoluments of office; and that Mr. Stowers had violated substantial public policy in West Virginia pertaining to free and fair elections. Mr. Hill sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees and costs.

After the complaint was filed, Mr. Hill moved to disqualify the Honorable Jay M. Hoke as the presiding circuit court judge in this matter. Judge Hoke declined to voluntarily disqualify himself. The Chief Justice of this Court then refused the motion to disqualify on three separate occasions. Thereafter, by order entered on October 1, 2007, the circuit court dismissed Mr. Hill's complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure. This appeal followed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

As set forth above, the circuit court dismissed Mr. Hill's complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure.⁵ This Court has explained that "[t]he purpose of a motion under Rule 12(b)(6) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure is to test the sufficiency of the complaint. A trial court considering a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) must liberally construe the complaint so as to do substantial justice." Cantley v. Lincoln County Comm'n, 221 W.Va. 468, 470, 655 S.E.2d 490, 492 (2007). "Since the preference is to decide cases on their merits, courts presented with a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, taking all allegations as true." Sedlock v. Moyle, 222 W.Va. 547, 550, 668 S.E.2d 176, 179 (2008). Therefore, "[t]he trial court, in appraising the sufficiency of a complaint on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, should not dismiss the complaint unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)." Syllabus Point 3, Chapman v. Kane Transfer Co., Inc., 160 W.Va. 530, 236 S.E.2d 207 (1977). This Court's review of a circuit court's dismissal of a complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) is plenary. In other words, "[a]ppellate review of a circuit court's order granting a motion to dismiss a complaint is de novo." Syllabus Point 2, State ex rel. McGraw v. Scott Runyan Pontiac-Buick, Inc., 194 W.Va. 770, 461 S.E.2d 516 (1995).

III. DISCUSSION

Mr. Hill's complaint sets forth four separate claims against Mr. Stowers. Each claim will be discussed, in turn, below.

A. Constitutional Claim

Mr. Hill first contends that the circuit court erred by finding that he does not have a valid state constitutional claim against Mr. Stowers. Based upon this Court's decision in State ex rel. Billings v. The City of Point Pleasant, 194 W.Va. 301, 460 S.E.2d 436 (1995), Mr. Hill argues that he had a fundamental constitutional right to run for political office in a free and unrestricted electoral process. Essentially, Mr. Hill maintains that Mr. Stowers destroyed the free, lawful, and open electoral process in Lincoln County for many years by buying votes and interfered with his right to run for the office of circuit clerk in an unfettered election. Thus, Mr. Hill reasons that Mr. Stowers's actions give rise to a state constitutional claim which this Court must recognize and protect.

In Syllabus Point 2 of Billings, this Court held that "[t]he West Virginia Constitution confers a fundamental right to run for public office, which the State cannot restrict unless the restriction is necessary to accomplish a legitimate and compelling governmental interest." In that case, Brian Billings brought an original mandamus proceeding in this Court challenging the constitutionality of W. Va.Code § 3-5-7(b)(6) (1991), which provided that a candidate for public office must file with a designated clerk a "certificate of announcement" that included the name of the candidate's political party and a statement verifying that the candidate "`has not been registered as a voter affiliated with any other political party for a period of sixty days before the day of filing the announcement.'" 194 W.Va. at 302, 460 S.E.2d at 437 (quoting W. Va.Code § 3-5-7(b)(6)). Mr. Billings sought to become a candidate for the office of councilman-at-large in the City of Point Pleasant. During the same month that he filed his certificate of announcement, Mr. Billings changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and, thus, failed to comply with W. Va.Code § 3-5-7(b)(6). The Chairman of the Point Pleasant City Republican Executive Committee filed a complaint with the City Clerk seeking to remove Mr. Billings...