State of West Virginia, Plaintiff Below, Appellee v. Michael Head, Defendant Below, Appellant

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed the circuit court's denial of Michael Head's Rule 35(b) motion for reduction of his 60-year aggravated robbery sentence. The court held that a defendant's failure to remind the trial court of a timely filed Rule 35(b) motion is not abandonment, and that delay caused solely by the court's administrative error cannot, as a matter of law, be unreasonable delay depriving the circuit court of jurisdiction; the case was remanded for consideration on the merits, including post-filing-period developments, so long as the parole board's role is not usurped. Justice Cleckley, concurring, agreed the legal error required reversal but would confine appellate review of Rule 35(b) rulings to clear legal error or gross abuse of discretion.