State v. Vance

Calhoun, President,

dissenting in part:

I respectfully dissent from that part of the decision *941and opinion which is summarized in the eighth point of the syllabus.

In all deference I suggest that the majority opinion may have killed in its infancy a wholesome trend toward an amelioration of the harsh rule announced and perpetuated by earlier decisions. In the case of State v. McHaffa, 110 W. Va. 266, pt. 2 syl., 157 S. E. 595, the Court stated: “In the trial of an accused for murder it is not reversible error for the court to discuss with counsel in the absence of the accused an instruction,…