State Ex Rel. Watson v. Hill

WORKMAN, Chief Justice:

This is a petition for a writ of mandamus and/or prohibition, in which the Petitioner, Terry Lynn Watson, seeks to compel the Honorable George W. Hill, Judge of the Circuit Court of Wood County, to consider and decide the Petitioner’s post-conviction habeas corpus petition on its merits. We agree that the Petitioner is entitled to a hearing on the merits of his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, and we grant a writ of mandamus to that effect.

On August 16, 1993, a jury found the Petitioner guilty of malicious assault, a felony defined in West Virginia Code…