11 results for 'judge:"Armstead"'.
J. Armstead affirms the lower court's order granting the municipality summary judgment in the resident's suit claiming it is partially responsible for injuries she sustained from a fall when her foot was caught in wire wrapped around a pole owned by a church where the wire extended onto a defective portion of the adjacent sidewalk. The resident failed to demonstrate the city knew the wire was a hazard since there was never any prior reported problem in the 10 years since it was put there, and she had in the previous year walked along that portion of sidewalk without incident. Affirmed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-625, Categories: Government, Tort, Negligence
J. Armstead reverses the lower court's order granting the state tax department's motion to dismiss the non-profit tax news publisher's suit seeking to compel the department to disclose copies of current field audit manuals, audit training manuals, and training and continuing education materials under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The judge erred in accepting carte blanche the department's reliance on the section of W. Va. Code prohibiting the release of documents that disclose the standards used “for the selection of [tax] returns for examination or data used or to be used for determining such standards” without first requiring it to produce a Vaughn Index "to detail why the requested information is exempt from disclosure and identify which exemption applies." Reversed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-491, Categories: Government, Public Record, Tax
J. Armstead found that the lower court properly denied a motion to alter judgment. An electrical worker was injured on the job when he attempted to get around communication lines by wrapping them in shrink-wrap and was electrocuted and seriously injured. He brought a negligence action against the owners of the electrical and communication lines, but summary judgment was granted in favor of the owners. The court finds that the denial to alter judgment was correct because the worker’s actions were the sole cause of the incident and that they constitute an intervening cause. Affirmed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 22-292, Categories: Employment, Negligence, Workers' Compensation
J. Armstead finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of sexual assault. Defendant appealed his conviction on the grounds that the jury was not instructed on a lesser charge of attempted sexual assault, and that he was improperly denied a mistrial. The court finds that the evidence did not support the instruction of a lesser charge, and the evidence that established defendant’s guilt weighed heavily against the denial of a mistrial. Affirmed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 22-239, Categories: Sex Offender, Assault, Child Victims
J. Armstead finds that the circuit court erred in affirming the grievance board’s decision restoring two separate bus routes an employee drove for the board of education. The bus driver, who worked for the district since 1980, complained after the board determined a second vocational bus route was improperly awarded to her via contract in 1985. The vocational route contract was illegal because it conflicted with the driver’s primary route contract, which was never modified to account for a change in destinations or an overlapping schedule. The circuit court erred by accepting the grievance and concluding the board had no duty to correct the mistake, in spite of its significance. Reversed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 22-234, Categories: Education, Employment, Contract
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J. Armstead determined the circuit court did not err when granting summary judgment in favor of a doctor and two medical institutions, who were sued by a patient for medical malpractice after he became addicted to prescription pain medications. The circuit court found the patient’s claims were barred by statutes of limitations under the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act. He had two years to file a complaint after submitting an intent to sue in May 2018, but did not file a completed notice of claim or certificate of merit until July 2020.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 22-158, Categories: Tort, Negligence, Medical Malpractice
J. Armstead reverses the circuit court's order affirming the Wayne County Family Court's decision awarding the ex-wife spousal support of $10,000 over 12 months. The family law judge abused his discretion by awarding the ex-wife spousal support in gross and not considering all statutory factors such as her possible need for support after the couple's remaining minor child graduates high school in June 2024. Reversed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 21-0897, Categories: Civil Procedure, Family Law
J. Armstead affirms in part and reverses in part defendant’s seven felony convictions following his attempt to shoot an off-duty deputy sheriff who entered his property to investigate his theft of a neighbor’s trail camera. Since they are lesser included offenses to malicious assault on a law enforcement officer, the court finds his constitutional right against double jeopardy was violated when he was convicted and sentenced on the charges of brandishing and wanton endangerment. Remanded with instructions for resentencing.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: 21-0806, Categories: Firearms, Double Jeopardy, Obstruction
J. Armstead reverses the lower court’s order granting the two public school teachers’ preliminary injunction keeping the governor from authorizing the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board from creating any public charter schools without a majority vote of the citizens in the county or counties where the school would be located. The court finds the teachers lack standing to seek the injunction since the governor does not have the ability to authorize charter schools. Reversed and remanded.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead , Filed On: June 8, 2023, Case #: 22-0070, Categories: Education, Government, Injunction
J. Armstead affirms the lower court’s termination of a mother’s parental and custodial rights to her infant daughter after determining she was not likely to “fully participate” in a post-dispositional improvement period due to her continued addiction to methamphetamine. The court finds despite testing positive for tuberculous which delayed the mother's admission into long-term rehabilitation, the daughter’s interests are not served by waiting months to determine if her mother can successfully complete a recovery program. Affirmed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: June 2, 2023, Case #: 22-0464, Categories: Family Law, Government
J. Armstead reverses the lower court’s order denying the financing company’s motion to compel arbitration after its customer filed a class-action counterclaim challenging the company’s practices in their suit to collect the unpaid balance on a retail installment contract for a Lincoln MKX. Based on the customer’s own admission, the retail installment contract is authentic, the court finds the judge erred when he determined the financing company “failed to meet this light evidentiary burden.” Remanded.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Armstead, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 22-0007, Categories: Arbitration, Debt Collection, Class Action