Steve Korris News
Supreme Court hears coal lease dispute
CHARLESTON – Like a contestant on a quiz show, attorney Raymond Byrd of Wheeling searched for answers worth millions.
Woman argues self defense before Supreme Court
CHARLESTON – Valerie Whittaker served almost two years in prison for killing her boyfriend, but she continues trying to prove she shot him in self defense.
McGraw will stop giving away money, top deputy says
Hughes CHARLESTON – West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw will stop giving away money from settlements of the state's lawsuits, his chief deputy told the Senate Finance Committee.
Pro se plaintiff convinces Supreme Court
CHARLESTON – Thomas Auxier of Indore represented himself before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and did better than some lawyers do.
Justices to decide if law firm should get 30 percent from coal lease
CHARLESTON – Lawyers who collected 30 percent for cleaning up a dirty coal lease continue to collect 30 percent under the lease they negotiated in its place.
Judiciary committees get to work on circuit, family court plans
Kessler CHARLESTON – Leaders of the judiciary committees at the West Virginia Capitol have split the work of choosing the right number of judges for the state's courts.
Recht throws out chunk of flood lawsuits
Recht BECKLEY – One sixth of the lawsuits from the flood of 2001 washed down the drain Jan. 18, when Ohio Circuit Judge Arthur Recht dismissed every claim from the Coal River watershed.
Family court judges need help, report finds
CHARLESTON - West Virginia's overworked family court judges need help - about $5 million worth of help.
Justices say minors have right to protect themselves
Starcher CHARLESTON – To the astonishment of the nation, a Missouri man took a mother's son home and kept him there without anyone's permission.
Supreme Court ruling is good news for bankers
Davis CHARLESTON – Relieving the fears of bankers across West Virginia, the state Supreme Court of Appeals refused to hold a bank accountable for embezzling that happened right under its nose.
Justices say state can collect income, franchise taxes from out-of-state businesses
Maynard CHARLESTON – West Virginia cannot collect sales taxes from businesses in other states but the state can collect income tax and franchise taxes from businesses in other states, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has decided.
Davis takes Starcher, Albright to task
Davis CHARLESTON – Chief Justice Robin Davis of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals rapped the knuckles of Justices Larry Starcher and Joseph Albright for putting public libraries ahead of the constitution.
Court OKs letting lawyers see Allstate analysis
CHARLESTON – Three lawyers in Wheeling can see a 10-year statewide analysis of Allstate Insurance property damage claims, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals decided Nov. 30.
Judge wrongly transferred case, court finds
Maynard CHARLESTON – Thomas Taylor escaped at last from somebody else's class action in somebody else's courthouse.
Justices give Logan officer half year of back pay
CHARLESTON – Logan Police Chief David White did not write a list of reasons why patrolman Mark Dickerson flunked probation.
Judges must explain prying, Justices rule
Benjamin CHARLESTON – Land owners in highway condemnations can pry into appraisals of their neighbors in exceptional circumstances. But according to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, judges who allow the prying must explain the circumstances.
Magistrates must follow Circuit Court discovery rules, Justices rule
Davis CHARLESTON – West Virginia magistrates may lack deep legal training, but they can hear deep evidence in criminal trials, the Supreme Court of Appeals declared.
Starcher chides fellow Justices for being 'blind'
Starcher CHARLESTON – Justice Larry Starcher of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals called his colleagues blind for throwing out a mangled miner's lawsuit.
Starcher, Benjamin stand up for Stucky
Starcher CHARLESTON – After three Justices of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals blasted Kanawha Circuit Judge James Stucky for appointing Charleston attorney Franklin Fragale Jr. to manage evidence in a lawsuit, two Justices rose to Stucky's defense.
Supreme Court finds jury bias in Ohio County case
CHARLESTON – Bias in an Ohio County jury shortchanged a dead man's family, according to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.