State ex rel. Daye v. McBride, 222 W. Va. 17

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia considered whether a trial court could correct an initial sentence imposed under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and replace it with a mandatory life sentence under the habitual offender statute. The court held that, after the statutory recidivist procedures were completed, the initial sentence was illegal and the trial court properly corrected it under Rule 35(a). The court affirmed in part and remanded for appointment of counsel and further proceedings on unresolved habeas corpus issues.

Holdings

1. When a person is convicted under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act of an offense punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility, and the recidivist procedures in West Virginia Code section 61-11-19 establish prior qualifying felony convictions, the court must impose the life sentence required by section 61-11-18, notwithstanding the second-or-subsequent-offense provisions of section 60A-4-408.
2. Because the recidivist information was timely filed and Daye admitted the prior convictions, the circuit court was required to impose the section 61-11-18 life sentence. The original two-to-thirty-year sentence was illegal and could be corrected under West Virginia Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(a).
3. The case must be remanded for appointment of counsel and further proceedings on habeas issues not decided in the opinion.

Questions Presented

1. Whether West Virginia's mandatory habitual-offender life-sentence statute, West Virginia Code section 61-11-18, applies when the current conviction is a drug offense subject to the discretionary enhancement provision of West Virginia Code section 60A-4-408.
2. Whether the circuit court's original sentence was illegal and therefore correctable under West Virginia Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(a).
3. Whether the circuit court properly denied the habeas petition summarily and whether unresolved habeas issues should be remanded for appointment of counsel and further proceedings.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded