State ex rel. Humphries v. Mcbride
Decision Date | 19 April 2007 |
Docket Number | No. 33103.,33103. |
Citation | 647 S.E.2d 798 |
Parties | STATE of West Virginia, ex rel. Carroll Eugene HUMPHRIES, Petitioner Below, Appellant v. Thomas McBRIDE, Warden Respondent Below, Appellee. |
Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Syl. Pt. 1, Mathena v. Haines, 219 W.Va. 417, 633 S.E.2d 771 (2006).
2. Syl. Pt. 8, State v. Julius, 185 W.Va. 422, 408 S.E.2d 1 (1991).
3. "In the West Virginia courts, claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are to be governed by the two-pronged test established in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984):(1) Counsel's performance was deficient under an objective standard of reasonableness; and (2) there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different." Syl. Pt. 5, State v. Miller, 194 W.Va. 3, 459 S.E.2d 114 (1995).
4. Syl. Pt. 6, State v. Miller, 194 W.Va. 3, 459 S.E.2d 114 (1995).
5. "Where a counsel's performance, attacked as ineffective, arises from occurrences involving strategy, tactics and arguable courses of action, his conduct will be deemed effectively assistive of his client's interests, unless no reasonably qualified defense attorney would have so acted in the defense of an accused." Syl. Pt. 21, State v. Thomas, 157 W.Va. 640, 203 S.E.2d 445 (1974).
6. Syl. Pt. 1, State v. Mason, 194 W.Va. 221, 460 S.E.2d 36 (1995).
William C. Forbes, Forbes Law Offices, PLLC, Charleston, for Appellant.
Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., Attorney General, Barbara H. Allen, Assistant Attorney General, Charleston, for Appellee.
This case is before the Court on appeal from an October 7, 2005, Order of the Circuit Court of Greenbrier County, which denied Appellant's petition for writ of habeas corpus. This Court has before it the petition for appeal, the briefs of the parties, and all matters of record. Following a review of the record herein,1 this Court finds that the circuit court erred in denying the petition for writ of habeas corpus. Accordingly, this Court reverses the October 7, 2005, Order of the circuit court and remands the matter for retrial of the criminal charges contained in 98-F-54 and 99-F-36.
On February 5, 1976, Billy Ray Abshire was killed when a bomb contained in a cardboard box and found on the left front fender of his car detonated as he left his home for work. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (the "ATF") investigated the incident and concluded that the bomb was of Abshire's making. All other suspects had been eliminated by the ATF, either by polygraph or by other means; and Abshire had access to the explosive used in the bomb. Furthermore, Kin-E-Pak explosive, an electric blasting cap, and an anti-disturbance device like those used in the bomb were found inside Abshire's trailer. The ATF concluded that Abshire had likely made the bomb and accidentally detonated it himself. Accordingly, his death was ruled accidental, and the investigation went no further.
At the time of Abshire's death, Appellant Humphries was engaged in a relationship with Abshire's estranged wife, Kitty. Humphries claims that during that period of time, he was attempting to help Kitty obtain a divorce from her husband, who had been holding out in an attempt to preserve the family. To that end, he consulted with an acquaintance, Gene Gaylor, who Humphries alleges he paid $2000 to research how Kitty could obtain a "quickie" Las Vegas divorce. In the meantime, Abshire consulted with an attorney by the name of John Detch regarding a divorce from Kitty.2 Abshire's divorce complaint was filed by John Detch the day before Abshire died.
In 1998, some 22½ years after Abshire's death, Humphries became the focus of a criminal investigation into the death. Gene Gaylor and his brother, Clayton, implicated Humphries in a murder plot, whereby Humphries allegedly paid Gene to make a bomb to kill Abshire. These accusations came to light after Humphries successfully prosecuted the Gaylors in federal court for an extortion plot which, curiously or not, involved Abshire's death. Together with Kitty Abshire, Gene Gaylor, and Robert Brown, Humphries was indicted in Greenbrier County in connection with the murder of Billy Ray Abshire.3
The case was moved to Putnam County on Humphries' motion,4 where, on July 30, 1999, Humphries was convicted as an accessory before the fact to murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to life (with mercy) on the accessory charge and one to five years on the conspiracy charge. The sentences were set to run consecutively. Humphries' direct appeal of his conviction was refused by this Court on October 3, 2000.
On March 28, 2001, Humphries filed a pro se petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Circuit Court of Greenbrier County, which was summarily denied. Humphries then retained his current attorney and filed an amended petition for writ of habeas corpus. An omnibus hearing was then held by the circuit court during which several issues were raised. The court again denied the petition, and Humphries now appeals.
This Court has recently clarified that Syl. Pt. 1, Mathena v. Haines, 219 W.Va. 417, 633 S.E.2d 771 (2006). With that in mind, we proceed to a discussion of the present appeal.
Six issues were presented to this Court on appeal.5 Of those, the State conceded error to three issues. They are Humphries' contention that he suffered ineffective assistance of counsel at his criminal trial, that his Fifth Amendment rights were violated in the course of his criminal trial, and that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated in the course of his criminal trial.6 However, Syl. Pt. 8, State v. Julius, 185 W.Va. 422, 408 S.E.2d 1 (1991). For that reason, while we need not delve into them in excessive detail, we will address each of the assignments of error in turn.
The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article III, Section 14 of the West Virginia Constitution both guarantee to the criminally accused the right to counsel. In State ex rel. Favors v. Tucker, 143 W.Va. 130, 140, 100 S.E.2d 411, 416 (1957), we recognized that "this right has been held to mean effective assistance [of counsel]. . . ." (Emphasis added.) It is not uncommon for one who has been convicted to challenge whether he or she has received that guaranteed effective assistance of counsel; and in its extensive review of such claims, this Court has held that "[i]n the West Virginia courts, claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are to be governed by the two-pronged test established in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984):(1) Counsel's performance was deficient under an objective standard of reasonableness; and (2) there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different." Syl. Pt. 5, State v. Miller, 194 W.Va. 3, 459 S.E.2d 114 (1995). We went on to clarify that Syl. Pt. 6, State v. Miller, 194 W.Va. 3, 459 S.E.2d 114 (1995). Guided by that principle and mindful of its admonition...
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