State v. Sanders

McGRAW, Chief Justice.

Lewis Franklin Sanders appeals his conviction on the charge of robbery with the use of a firearm, W. Va.Code § 61-2-12 (1961), and resulting forty-year sentence. This case presents two principal issues for the Court’s consideration: First, Sanders asserts that the circuit court erred by refusing to grant his motion for a mistrial, where he claimed that he was not mentally competent to stand trial. Second, he argues that the forty-year sentence imposed by the trial court amounts to constitutionally impermissible punishment for exercising his right to a jury trial, where,…