State v. Phillips

McHUGH, Justice:

In this case, the petitioner, Russell Clark Phillips, appeals from his 1983 conviction in the Circuit Court of Mineral County, West Virginia, of murder of the first degree, “without a recommendation of mercy.” W.Va.Code, 61-2-1 [1931]; W.Va.Code, 62-3-15 [1965]. He received a penitentiary sentence of life imprisonment. This Court has before it the petition for appeal, all matters of record and the briefs and argument of counsel.

I

The appellant’s conviction resulted from the charge that in the early morning hours of August 23, 1982, he shot and killed Timothy Roberts. The…