MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia will convene at the West Virginia University College of Law on Tuesday, March 1, to hear four cases.
The hearings will begin at 10 a.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom. Admission is free and open to the public. Seating begins at 9 a.m.
In their first case, the Justices will hear arguments concerning the wrongful death of Avishek Sengupta in a 2013 “tough mudder” competition in Gerrardstown, West Virginia. Tough Mudder, LLC is appealing a decision by the Circuit Court of Marshall County to deny a motion to compel arbitration.
The next case to be heard by the Justices will be The City of Morgantown v. Nuzum Trucking Company, et al. The city is appealing a circuit court order that overturned a weight ordinance that would limit certain truck traffic in downtown Morgantown.
The Justices will also hear arguments regarding the Estate of Luigi Bossio and his sons, Samuel and Bernard, involving a stock purchase agreement for Bossio Enterprise, Inc. The Morgantown-based firm is a residential and commercial real estate business.
The final case on the March 1 docket for the Justices is the State of West Virginia v. Nicholar Varlas, who is appealing his convictions of second degree sexual assault and attempt to commit sexual assault. Varlas argues that text messages from the victim’s boyfriend were wrongfully excluded from trial and that an investigating officer made improper testimony in court.
Attendees to the Supreme Court hearings should be seated by 9:50 a.m. Business attire is expected and backpacks/book bags are not allowed in the courtroom. Visitors must enter or exit the courtroom between cases to avoid disruption.
The Justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia are Menis Ketchum II (Chief Justice), Margaret Workman, Robin Jean Davis, Brent D. Benjamin, and Allen H. Loughry II. Justices Davis, Workman, and Ketchum are graduates of the WVU College of Law.
The Justices will re-convene in the Lugar Courtroom at 1 p.m. on March 1 to judge second-year law students compete in the final round of the George C. Baker Moot Court Competition.
-WVU-
