West Virginia Supreme Court, 1981

The court held that waiver and res judicata principles cannot bar claims raised in a prisoner's initial pro se habeas application when the prisoner was not represented by appointed counsel and had not received an omnibus evidentiary hearing.

The court vacated the juvenile delinquency adjudication because the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the juvenile did not act in self-defense. The court held that the juvenile was entitled to use deadly force to repel the violent intrusion into his home, and that the evidentiary failure barred a…