State of West Virginia v. Byron Blackburn

KETCHUM, Justice:

Byron Blackburn (“Blackburn”) appeals his conviction in the Circuit Court of Mercer County of robbery in the first degree. Blackburn was indicted for entering a Wendy’s restaurant in Bluefield, West Virginia, and attempting to obtain money by holding a machete against the throat of a restaurant employee. Blackburn was sentenced to a forty-year term in the penitentiary.

Raising two assignments of error, Blackburn asks this Court to set aside his conviction and grant a new trial. First, Blackburn contends that his confession to the police should have been excluded from the trial…