Schofield v. West Virginia Department of Corrections

NEELY, Justice:

Kathy Jo Schofield was convicted of first-degree murder without a recommendation of mercy by a Wood County jury in December 1982. Her conviction was affirmed by this Court in State v. Schofield, 175 W.Va. 99, 331 S.E.2d 829 (1985). In 1987 Ms. Schofield petitioned the Circuit Court of Monongalia County for post-conviction habeas corpus relief under W.Va. Code, 53-4A-1 [1967] et seq. Ms. Scho-field’s amended habeas corpus petition alleged that her trial counsel were ineffective in three areas: (1) they failed to deal adequately with the issue of mercy by offering evidence,…