In re: I.S.A.

Summary

This is a dissenting opinion by Chief Justice Armstead of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in an appeal concerning I.S.A.’s petition to expunge criminal records. The dissent argues that West Virginia Code § 61-11-25 grants circuit courts discretion to deny expungement when it would be contrary to public interest or public safety and does not create an automatic right to a hearing. It would affirm the circuit court’s denial of the expungement petition.

Holdings

1. The expungement statute preserves the circuit court's discretion to consider the facts of the case and deny expungement when granting it would be contrary to the public interest and public safety.
2. Section 61-11-25 does not give an applicant an automatic right to a hearing; the circuit court may determine whether a hearing is necessary.
3. The circuit court's independent finding that expungement would be contrary to the public interest and public safety supported denial of the petition even if its separate finding concerning a guilty plea was erroneous.

Questions Presented

1. Whether West Virginia Code § 61-11-25 gives the circuit court discretion to deny an expungement petition when expungement would be contrary to the public interest and public safety.
2. Whether West Virginia Code § 61-11-25 gives an applicant an automatic right to an evidentiary hearing on an expungement petition.
3. Whether the circuit court's alternative public-safety finding independently supported denial of I.S.A.'s expungement petition.

Disposition

affirmed