State of West Virginia v. Kyle Lewis Taylor

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reviewed Kyle Lewis Taylor’s appeal from convictions for two counts of second-degree sexual assault. Taylor challenged the indictment as duplicitous, the admission of testimony concerning marijuana, the Allen charge given to the jury, the sufficiency of the evidence, and the denial of post-trial relief. The court’s memorandum decision states that it found no substantial question of law or prejudicial error and affirmed the circuit court’s order.

Holdings

1. The court declined to consider Taylor's duplicity challenge because defects in an indictment, other than failure to show jurisdiction or charge an offense, must be raised before trial, and Taylor failed to show that he timely raised the issue.
2. The challenge to the denial of acquittal on Count Four was moot because the jury acquitted Taylor on that count.
3. The circuit court did not plainly err or abuse its discretion by managing the jury's deliberation schedule and giving the Allen instruction.
4. The circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying a mistrial based on testimony that Taylor supplied or sold marijuana to M.S.
5. Taylor failed to establish plain error because the State disclosed that SANE Smith might testify as an expert regarding her examination and report, and the record did not demonstrate that her testimony was so unreliable or inadmissible as to satisfy the plain-error standard.
6. The evidence was sufficient to support Taylor's convictions for two counts of second-degree sexual assault.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Taylor's indictment was impermissibly duplicitous because each count referenced both forcible compulsion and physical helplessness.
2. Whether the State failed to provide adequate notice of SANE Smith's expert testimony and whether the testimony required exclusion under Daubert.
3. Whether the circuit court improperly coerced the jury through the timing and management of deliberations and its Allen instruction.
4. Whether unsolicited testimony that Taylor supplied or sold marijuana required a mistrial or violated West Virginia Rule of Evidence 404(b).
5. Whether the evidence was legally sufficient to support Taylor's two convictions for second-degree sexual assault.

Disposition

affirmed