(Download) "State West Virginia v. Bernard Hutchinson" by Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free

August 04, 2021

eBook details

Title: State West Virginia v. Bernard Hutchinson
Author : Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
Release Date : January 04, 1986
Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
Pages : * pages
Size : 70 KB

Description

1. In the determination of a claim that an accused was prejudiced by ineffective assistance of counsel violative of Article III, Section 14 of the West Virginia Constitution and the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, courts should measure and compare the questioned counsel's performance by whether he exhibited the normal and customary degree of skill possessed by attorneys who are reasonably knowledgeable of criminal law, except that proved counsel error which does not affect the outcome of the case, will be regarded as harmless error. Syl. pt. 19, State v. Thomas, 157 W.Va. 640, 203 S.E.2d 445 (1974). 2. Although this Court may, under Rule 30 of the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure, notice plain error in the giving of an erroneous instruction (in the absence of a proper and timely objection at trial), this Court will not ordinarily recognize plain error under such circumstances, even of constitutional magnitude, where the giving of the erroneous instruction did not substantially impair the truth-finding function of the trial.