Latest news with #WVUCollegeofLaw
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Morgantown Councilor facing numerous charges in Virginia
Mar. 1—MORGANTOWN — A former Morgantown City Council member and WVU College of Law graduate is facing a host of charges in Virginia tied to a string of burglaries spanning several counties. According to a Bedford Police Department press release, Ryan Wheeler Wallace was taken into custody without incident on Feb. 27 after a multi-agency investigation culminated in a search warrant for his residence. The Dominion Post has confirmed this is the same Ryan Wallace who represented Morgantown's 3rd Ward on Morgantown City Council for a single two-year term from July 2017 through June 2019. Wallace graduated from the WVU College of Law in May 2018. While in school, he was named one of the top student leaders in the country by the National Jurist, which made him a finalist for its Law Student of the Year in 2018. According to the press release, the Bedford Police Department began looking into a burglary at an area business that occurred in January. The suspect captured by surveillance cameras appeared similar to an individual being sought for similar crimes in nearby Bedford and Botetourt counties. Through the collaborative efforts of all three agencies, a suspect was identified. In February, the Roanoke County Police Department took a report that a business in its jurisdiction had been burglarized. The same individual was captured by that business's cameras. Around this time, agencies in northern Virginia joined the investigation, as they had reports of similar crimes in their jurisdictions. According to the release, Wallace is facing, "a number of felonies and misdemeanors related to these crimes, with the possibility of more charges to come." All told, nine agencies contributed to the investigation. Wallace was 36 years old when he defeated incumbent Wes Nugent (1, 579 — 975) to win a seat on Morgantown City Council in April 2017. On March 22, 2019, just over a month ahead of the city's April 30 election, Wallace abruptly announced that he did not intend to serve a second term as he and his family were moving to Toronto. Based on city code at the time, it was too late to remove his name from the ballot. Come Election Day, enough voters were aware of the situation that one of the write-in candidates, Zack Cruz, was elected. Once in Canada, Wallace opened his own law firm, Wallace Legal. Since closed, that firm is currently under the trusteeship of the Superior Court of Justice and under investigation by Canadian authorities. According to information provided to The Dominion Post, Wallace cut ties with his family and left Canada on his own in March 2024.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia comes to WVU College of Law
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia stopped by the WVU College of Law Tuesday morning, hearing appellate arguments and giving students a chance to see how a Supreme Court works up close. Chief Justice William R. Wooton told 12 News that he attended the WVU College of Law to obtain his law degree, along with many of his colleagues. He added that when he attended the college, there was nothing like this that existed for students. 'The Supreme Court was just a mystery,' Wooton stated. 'I think this gives students a firsthand experience without having to leave the school. It also provides an excellent teaching opportunity for the faculty.' Wooton said that the Supreme Court Justices took some care in selecting the cases that were argued on Tuesday, adding that each of these cases provides an excellent opportunity for teaching points. Three cases were argued during this event: two dealing with Rule 20 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure, and another dealing with Rule 19 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. 'Apart from what it does for the law school, it kind of re-energizes all of us,' said Wooton. 'We love coming back, it's a homecoming if you will and we all have great memories of being in this place, and it's just a lot of fun.' After the Supreme Court listened to all three arguments, the Justices sat down to eat lunch alongside the students and answer questions. 'I think it's a great experience for students to interact with the Supreme Court Justices. Most of us in my time, you never saw a Supreme Court Justice unless you were in court,' Wooton added. How you can get traditional Colombian coffee in Gilmer County According to Wooton, the Supreme Court of Appeals has numerous tasks across the state of West Virginia. The state supreme court is the administrative head of the court, under a 'unified court system,' where the responsibility is exercised among five court Justices. 'An enormous part of our responsibility is administrative,' said Wooton. 'We enter into leases regarding family courts, […] provide the technological support for all the circuit courts and family courts and magistrates, and the computer systems and all that.' Wooton said that the Supreme Court of Appeals is the 'court of last resort' in West Virginia, adding that any cases can ultimately be appealed to their court. He said that one of Tuesday's cases dealt with a 'certified question' from the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the appellate court in the federal system that is one level below the United States Supreme Court. 'If they have a question about what West Virginia law means, and in this case it was 'what does this particular West Virginia statute mean?' Well the federal courts don't take a guess at that,' said Wooton. 'Instead, they refer to the West Virginia Supreme Court to say 'what exactly does this law mean?'' Wooton first joined the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in 2021 and said that they had been holding this event for many years prior. However, he stated that he attended the WVU College of Law a long time ago when the law school wasn't even in the same building, adding that they didn't have a courtroom or any facilities. He said that during his time in law school, the court was constitutionally different and they didn't have a unified court system. 'That changed with the constitutional amendment where we gained the administrative responsibility for every judge,' Wooton added. 'I think it's important for a law student to watch how every level of court works,' said Wooton. 'They don't often get a chance to see a trial court work, but I think the law school now tries to make that happen.' Wooton stated that he feels it's important for students to see that standing up and answering questions from a professor is similar to a lawyer arguing an appellate case and answering a question from a Justice. 'It kind of grounds their knowledge of what they're learning as to how it's gonna be applied.' According to Wooton, trial courts are courts of record, so they function a little bit differently than appellate courts. 'Everything that's said is recorded, taken down and appellate courts are not courts of record. You can't introduce any evidence here, […] all we can do is review the record of what happened below,' he said. Wooton added that the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is only able to make a decision as to whether something was done correctly or not. He stated that if there's no indication as to what was done at all, the court is unable to make a judgment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
