CHARLESTON — State Supreme Court Justice Beth Walker is ready to begin her impeachment trial.
Walker filed a motion Sept. 26 saying she wants her trial, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 1, to start Monday.
“Justice Walker is ready, willing and eager to present her case before the Senate,” the motion states. “As a result, she respectfully requests that this court not issue a stay affecting her trial.”
Walker
Last week, Chief Justice Margaret Workman filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the state Supreme Court to halt her impeachment trial or at least delay it until after the Nov. 6 general election. Workman’s trial, the second of four, is scheduled to begin Oct. 15.
Five circuit judges have been appointed to hear Workman’s petition. The state Senate has until Oct. 3 to respond to Workman’s Supreme Court filings.
Also, because of the impeachment trials and suspended Justice Allen Loughry’s federal trial that is set to begin Oct. 2, the state Supreme Court again has pushed back the start of the fall term. Cases that were scheduled to be heard Oct. 2 and 3 have been “continued generally,” according to a release from the court.
“Many court employees, including necessary security staff, have been subpoenaed to appear in both a federal court proceeding and the state Senate impeachment proceedings,” the release stated. “The Clerk will provide counsel of record with ample notification for when the cases will be heard.”
The Supreme Court’s fall docket originally was supposed to begin in September, but the impeachment proceedings caused that to be pushed off too.
In other state Supreme Court news:
* * *
Temporary Justice Tim Armstead was sworn in Sept. 25.
Armstead, the former speaker of the House of Delegates, was appointed by Gov. Jim Justice along with U.S. Rep Evan Jenkins last month to fill the seats of retired Justices Menis Ketchum and Robin Jean Davis. Jenkins will be sworn in Oct. 1.
During his ceremony, Armstead said he is eager to begin working to restore confidence in the court. He took his oath a day after five circuit judges serving as temporary justices dismissed a petition challenging his and Jenkins’ appointments.
“This past year has been very challenging to our judiciary system,” he said after he was sworn in at the court chambers. “I know that it’s really a time that none of us would have wished on the state of West Virginia, but I’ll also say I’m optimistic of where we are going now. …
““It’s our job to rebuild it and every single day that the judges throughout our state, not only the justices but the judges, do their job and do it fairly and do it competently they help to rebuild that court system.”
Kanawha Circuit Judge Dan Greear gave Armstead the oath of office. Greear was Armstead’s chief of staff in the House until Justice appointed him as a circuit judge this summer.
* * *
Two Republican members of the state Legislature’s Liberty Caucus are accusing Workman and Davis of trying to unconstitutionally obstruct the Legislature’s power of impeachment.
Delegates Mike Folk (R-Berkeley) and Pat McGeehan (R-Hancock) issued a statement Sept. 26.
“In matters of impeachment, the Legislature does not answer to the state Supreme Court or federal courts, it answers only to the voters of our state,” McGeehan said in the statement. “The people will hold us accountable, not a group of hand-picked judicial allies or colleagues on the federal bench.”
Both say the Senate and individual respondents named should not even file a response.
“To file a response to this nonsense would be an acknowledgement that a court has the power to review our sole power, and that is clearly not the case,” Folk said in the statement. “Anyone with a basic level of literacy can clearly read that impeachment is a matter left to the Legislature alone, and they can see that this is a clear attempt on the part of Justice Workman and former Justice Davis to set a dangerous precedent for any future impeachments by saying that the court could define any of the parameters of this process, which is a clear contradiction to the ‘sole power’ clause of Article Four, Section Nine of our Constitution.”
* * *
Circuit Judge Ronald Wilson has been named to hear Workman’s petition to halt or delay her impeachment trial.
But, he also has been named as a potential witness in Walker’s impeachment trial, which begins Oct. 1. He likely is on the witness list because he is the lead judge on the state Judicial Investigation Commission.
The JIC is the group that named Loughry in a 32-count charge about his conduct that led to his suspension and the impeachment proceedings. The JIC also closed ethics complaints against Workman, Walker and Davis this summer as well.
Also hearing Workman’s petition with Wilson are Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom, McDowell Circuit Judge Rudolph Murensky and Upshur Circuit Judge Jacob Reger. Hancock Circuit Judge James Matish is acting chief justice.
