CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has issued a memorandum decision agreeing that a Huntington man must $685 in fines.
The Supreme Court found no prejudicial error in the lower court’s ruling, according to the Sept. 1 memorandum decision.
On Feb. 11, 2016, Charles Lusher was issued a citation for using his cell phone while driving and failing to stop at the location that the police officer instructed.
On May 24, 2016, Lusher appeared in municipal court, where he was found guilty and fined $685. Thereafter, Lusher and the City of Huntington disagreed regarding the proper procedure for appealing the municipal court’s judgment to Cabell Circuit Court.
Lusher’s appeal from the municipal court’s judgment was docketed three times by the circuit clerk. In the first instance, at a June 28, 2016, hearing, the court remanded the case to the municipal court to allow the parties to “figure it out” so that Lusher could file a proper appeal.
In the second and third instances, the appeals were dismissed because Lusher failed to appear at a hearing. He then appealed the circuit court’s Sept. 30, 2016, order dismissing his appeal from the municipal court’s judgment.
Because the petitioner failed to explain why he did not appear for the Sept. 29, 2016, hearing, the Supreme Court concluded that the circuit court properly dismissed the petitioner’s appeal for a failure to prosecute, according to the decision.
W.Va. Supreme Court of Appeals case number: 16-1022