State of West Virginia v. Parker Lee Pendry

Summary

The court reversed Pendry’s second-degree murder conviction and awarded a new trial because several instructions improperly shifted or confused the burdens concerning insanity, intent, and malice, including an instruction that treated intent as presumed from use of a deadly weapon. The court also held that the State’s medical testimony was admissible and found no reversible voir dire error on the record presented, while providing guidance for jury examination at retrial. The court adopted a modern insanity-instruction framework and held that the prosecution must prove every material element beyond a reasonable doubt, although a defendant may bear a burden of proving an affirmative defense by no more than a preponderance of the evidence.