State v. Louk

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed Victoria Louk's voluntary manslaughter conviction because police extracted a written statement from her after she had at least three times invoked her right to counsel, holding that once counsel is requested officers must totally cease contact with the accused and any later waiver is ineffectual unless the accused initiated the communication. The court rejected her remaining claims, upholding the arguably inconsistent verdicts, the exclusion of post-crime character evidence, the murder and malice-inference instructions, the refusal of repetitious defense instructions, and the denial of grand jury minutes absent a particularized need. No separate opinions were filed.