WEST virginia legislature

2020 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 692

By Senator Trump

[Introduced February 4, 2020; referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend and reenact §62-3-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to clarifying that persons charged with a felony offense or offenses are entitled to a separate trial as to their guilt or innocence upon moving therefor; and further clarifying that the statutory right to a separate trial preempts any provisions of law or judicial rule to the contrary.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 3. TRIAL OF CRIMINAL CASES.

§62-3-8. Jury for defendants indicted and tried jointly; jury for separate trials of persons jointly indicted.

(a) Persons indicted and tried jointly, for a felony, shall be allowed to strike from the panel of jurors not more than six thereof, and only such as they all agree upon shall be stricken therefrom; and if they cannot agree upon the names to be so stricken off, the prosecuting attorney shall strike therefrom a sufficient number of names to reduce the panel to 12. If persons jointly indicted elect to be, or are, tried separately, the panel in the case of each shall be made up as provided in the third section of this article.

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law or judicial rule to the contrary, a person charged with a felony offense or offenses is entitled, upon motion, to a separate trial at which his or her guilt or innocence of the charge or charges is to be determined.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that persons indicted or charged jointly for a felony offense or offenses is entitled, upon motion, to have a separate trial to determine guilt or innocence of the offense or offenses.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.