State of West Virginia ex rel. Roy David Vernatter, Petitioner Below, Appellant v. Warden, West Virginia…

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the denial of post-conviction habeas relief to Roy David Vernatter, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and alleged trial counsel were ineffective for failing to obtain a psychiatric examination before the plea. Applying the Strickland/Miller test, the court held counsel's investigation of Vernatter's mental history — obtaining records from three facilities and consulting a psychiatrist — was objectively reasonable, and that Vernatter showed no reasonable probability he would have insisted on going to trial. The court further held, adopting United States v. Timmreck's framework, that alleged Rule 11 colloquy deficiencies are not cognizable in post-conviction habeas absent constitutional or jurisdictional error or a complete miscarriage of justice, so the circuit court's silence on that claim did not require remand.