Kanawha County Circuit Court Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Allegations, Justice Response In WVSP Hidden Camera Probe

The latest legal complaint concerning the West Virginia State Police hidden camera investigation outlines an alleged culture of misconduct towards women, with accusations of sexual assault and concerns over reforms.

The latest legal complaint concerning the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) hidden camera investigation outlines an alleged culture of misconduct towards women, with accusations of sexual assault and concerns over reforms.

The complaint filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court alleged that there were multiple victims and named multiple defendants involved in a hidden camera placed in the State Police Academy women’s locker room beginning in 2015.

Bryan Edwards, a Morgantown attorney and member of the legal team, is representing 70 West Virginia female law enforcement officers who trained at the academy and used the women’s locker room. He said evidence shows that beyond an invasion of privacy, male academy individuals exploited women.

“They preyed on the cadets,” Edwards said. “Making allegations that if they wished to get through the academy, then they would be subjected to their unwanted advances.”

The internal State Police investigation into the hidden camera incident has been underway for more than three months. Edwards said some defendants named in the complaint continue to work there.

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In a media briefing on Wednesday, Gov. Jim Justice voiced frustration with no investigation findings yet, and acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations and had a message for the 70 West Virginia plaintiffs.

“A million apologies,” Justice said. “There’s no excuse. It’s ridiculous stuff that has happened. For 70 women, maybe there’s a goodly percentage that this did not happen to, but can you just imagine not knowing?”

Edwards believes the internal investigation will not change an alleged culture of sexism and coverups.

“It doesn’t appear that some of the bad actors that we know have had any type of consequences at all,” he said. “So my faith in the internal investigation is very limited.”

Justice said he has full faith that the State Police hidden camera probe will resolve the issue, and said reforms have already been instituted. But he also said he has limited patience.

“I really do believe that those changes are either happening, or have already been made,” Justice said. “We have investigations going on and I think we got to let that play out. But I’m not comfortable with all the bad stuff that’s happened. I want to see action. I have the most confidence in the State Police and love them with all my soul. But we don’t need to keep messing around with this. We need to move and move as swiftly as we possibly can.”

Edwards said his clients have seen no evidence of reforms at this point.

“If someone is feeling that they are being harassed or mistreated, that there was something outside, they can go and express those concerns,” Edwards said. “And it’s not just going to be the status quo, which I think has been the issue down there for years.”

Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva was one of the first to file a “notice to sue” the state government entity on behalf of multiple female law enforcement officers. All law enforcement officers, such as local police and sheriff’s deputies, train at the WVSP Academy and use the locker room and shower facilities.

State Police have offered no timetable for investigation results, saying due diligence is their utmost concern.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting asked the State Police for an update on both the investigation and reforms instituted but did not receive a response before this story was published.

ACLU-WV Petition Seeks Transparency For Alleged ‘Secret Prison Laws’

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia has alleged the state Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Department of Homeland Security attempted to hide a set of legislative rules from public view.

The ACLU’s legal filing alleges Corrections and Rehabilitation provided a partial and inaccurate version of its Policy Directives Manual after it was requested by the organization in January.

It also alleges that after the ACLU requested access to the manual from the Secretary of State’s office, certain access was restricted after some time at the request of Homeland Security. The agency also allegedly requested a removal of the documents from the Secretary of State’s office, which was denied.

“What we were initially looking at, it’s unclear the extent to which that was accurate in the first place. But at this point, we don’t have access to the full document,” ACLU-WV Managing Attorney Aubrey Sparks said.

The manual is considered a legislative rule in West Virginia code. The ACLU petitioned the Kanawha County Circuit Court to order the agencies to provide a complete and accurate version of the policies, claiming the two agencies were creating “secret laws.”

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Sparks said legislative rules act differently than internal policies or procedure guides.

“The issue here is that this is a legislative rule, which means that it has the full force of law, and yet it’s not accessible to the public,” Sparks said.

The request for the DCR documents comes after a 2021 report that ACLU-WV published with findings that West Virginia has some of the nation’s deadliest jails.

“We were interested in seeing how those jails are run, if that document, that legislative rule conferred any substantive rights on the people who were incarcerated that could be useful in trying to improve the conditions of the prisons and jails,” Sparks said.

According to the legal filing, the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitations claimed the initial request for the document was treated as a Freedom of Information Act request, with some of the records removed “pursuant to W. Va. Code § 29B-1-4(a)(19),” which states certain records relating to facilities, directives and operational procedures could be used “to escape a facility, or to cause injury to another inmate, resident, or to facility personnel” if they are released.

The ACLU argued in the filing that the public still had a right of access and that further access was withheld to documents which were not initially restricted.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting reached out to the DHS and DCR for comment. The DHS declined to comment, while the DCR has not yet provided a response as of the story’s publication.

Jury Selection To Begin For Man Accused Of Killing Officer Cassie Johnson

A West Virginia judge has ruled that jury selection will begin this week for a man accused of killing a Charleston police officer.

Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey said during a pretrial hearing on Tuesday that jury selection for Joshua Phillips will begin Thursday, ahead of the trial scheduled to begin Monday, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

The judge declined to rule on a motion from defense attorneys to move the trial out of Kanawha County.

“I believe the appropriate thing to do is to continue to hold the motion in abeyance to consider, as I had indicated previously, whether or not a jury could be properly selected in this case with a greater number of persons available only for this trial,” Bailey said.

Phillips is charged with fatally shooting Officer Cassie Johnson, 28, in 2020 when she responded to a parking lot complaint.

Report: Bailey Is First Woman To Lead Judicial Association

Kanawha County Chief Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey has become the first woman elected as president of the West Virginia Judicial Association, according to a published report.

“There’s not a more deserving person,“ Putnam Circuit Judge Phillip Stowers, past president of the association, told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “I think we’ll all be in good hands with her as the association president.“

The association is responsible for promoting education, professionalism and camaraderie among judges.

Bailey was fifth woman to serve as a judge in the state when she was appointed in 2002 and has served for 20 years, the newspaper reported.

She said she is looking forward to further cultivating a sense of community and professional support among judges.

“I have to say one of the greatest parts of this job is getting to know judges from around the state,“ Bailey said.

Kanawha Judge Hears W.Va. Charter School Arguments With Decision Expected As Early As Friday

A judge in Kanawha County Circuit Court heard arguments Tuesday on the constitutionality of West Virginia’s public charter school law.

Plaintiffs calling the state’s charter school law unconstitutional are seeking an injunction from the Kanawha County Circuit Court. This would temporarily halt the creation of five recently approved charter schools.

Petitioners say the state’s charter law is unconstitutional, because it allows for charters, which are public schools, to be created without the direct involvement of voters.

Charter schools in West Virginia are approved by the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board, whose members are not elected. This entity bypasses county school boards’ involvement, whose members are elected.

The first charter school law passed in West Virginia in 2019. At that time, county school boards had the power to approve or deny charter school applications. That was amended in 2021 when the West Virginia Legislature created the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board to be the state’s charter authorizer.

Also in 2021, the legislature expanded the limit of charter schools that may be approved by 2023, from three schools in the original law, to 10. This expansion also included the addition of virtual charter schools.

Those in favor of the law are asking for the injunction to be denied, saying parents have a right to choose between traditional public schools and public charter schools.

Defendants also say the voter argument is a moot point, because legislators are voted into office and it was the legislature that created West Virginia’s charter law.

Kanawha County Judge Jennifer Bailey said she will come to a decision on the case by Friday.

Three brick-and-mortar charter schools were approved by the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board in November. One week later, the board approved two statewide virtual charter schools.

All five schools are expected to open in fall 2022.

Judge Denies Teacher Union Efforts To Halt In-Person Learning At Schools

A West Virginia judge has denied attempts to halt or slow a return to in-person learning for pre-K through 12th grade classrooms across the state.

Kanawha County Judge Carrie Webster denied a temporary restraining order filed by the state’s two largest teacher unions. The unions wanted the court to reverse a recent ruling made by the West Virginia Board of Education that no longer allows fully remote learning in pre-K through 8th grade.

That ruling by the state board also requires high schools to return to in-person instruction unless a county is red on the state’s COVID-19 risk map. Virtual school is still available to all counties and grade levels.

The West Virginia Education Association and the West Virginia chapter of the American Federation of Teachers filed the injunctions in an attempt to allow teachers and school service personnel time to receive both doses of a coronavirus vaccine before being forced to return to classrooms.

The action also sought to allow the decision of in-person learning to be made at the county level.

“Obviously, we are disappointed by the judge’s decision to deny the temporary restraining order,” said AFT-WV President Fred Albert. “We were hoping to secure time for our members to become fully vaccinated and protected during in-person instruction. However, we are respectful of the process and the opportunity to have the concerns of our members heard before the court.”

Albert said he still believes the decision regarding in-person versus remote learning are best left to the local boards of education who are elected by the citizens. The state Board of Education is not. Instead, nine of its eleven members are appointed by the governor.

WVEA President Dale Lee also released a statement and agreed with Albert, saying the state school board “took options away from county boards.”

“Decisions to teach in-person, remotely, hybrid and online should be a local decision, made by those who are the most impacted and who best understand how to best educate students safely,” Lee said. “While some areas may be able to safely return to in-person learning, for others it is an entirely different situation. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ does not fit the learning needs all [sic] of our students … in the middle of a pandemic.”

State health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported children do not spread the coronavirus at the rate adults do.

All 55 county school systems are in compliance with the state board’s demands, following some initial push back by seven counties.

Vaccinations for teachers and school staff age 50 and older began in early January, and is continuing across the state.