State of West Virginia, Plaintiff Below, Appellee v. Larry S. White, Ii, Defendant Below, Appellant

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed Larry S. White, II's convictions of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a felony, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to strike two prospective jurors for cause, that the evidence sufficed to prove premeditation, deliberation, and the conspiracy, and that the co-defendant's concealment statements were properly admitted as non-hearsay under Rule 801(d)(2)(E). The court announced a new rule that no second search warrant is required to examine the contents of items, including cellular telephones, properly seized during a warrant-based vehicle search, and it rejected the Brady-based new-trial motion because the North Carolina records were not in the State's possession until after trial and the surveillance video was disclosed and immaterial. Judge Alsop, concurring in part and dissenting in part, agreed the cell phone evidence was properly admitted but would have decided the search issue on standing grounds and criticized the new warrant rule as overly broad in the developing field of electronic-device searches.