Latest / Ask the Lawyer / 10/23/2025 Ask the Lawyer with Harvey Peyton

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10/23/2025 Ask the Lawyer with Harvey Peyton · Ask the Lawyer

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Speaker 2: The views and opinions expressed on this program do not
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Speaker 2: necessarily reflect the views and opinions of five adwchs it's
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Speaker 2: employees or WVRC Media, Our.
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Speaker 3: Courts, Oh created equal.
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Speaker 4: Well Mass come here.
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Speaker 5: In a Kate.
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Speaker 2: Can robson up on.
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Speaker 5: This is five eighths the voice of Charleston. I'm Jeff Jenkins.
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Speaker 5: It's eight twenty on this Thursday morning. I'm setting in
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Speaker 5: for Coop. But this is a familiar chair for me
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Speaker 5: because I had the opportunity to host the Peyton Laws
1:11
Speaker 5: show for years, yeah, until about a year ago and
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Speaker 5: Coop took over there. So Harvey Payton is in. This
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Speaker 5: is like old times.
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Speaker 3: It is indeed, it's good to be here. Tom has
1:22
Speaker 3: been here the last old two or three weeks. As
1:26
Speaker 3: I was telling you off air, my wife and I
1:28
Speaker 3: went out to Utah to Provo to see the Mountaineers
1:33
Speaker 3: play BYU and football on a Friday night. We just
1:36
Speaker 3: stayed for about ten days to see and all the
1:40
Speaker 3: parks in Utah, the national parks are open. The state
1:43
Speaker 3: of Utah. Their tourism division did the Saint has done
1:46
Speaker 3: the same thing that our tourism division has done with
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Speaker 3: Harper's Ferry and New River Gords. They are paying the
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Speaker 3: National Park Service to keep the visitor centers and the
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Speaker 3: publicly accessible areas. And so we were able to go
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Speaker 3: to Capitol Reef and Chris went to the Monument Valley, but
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Speaker 3: that's not that's in the Navajo Nation. It's an equivalent
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Speaker 3: of a National park, but it's operated exclusively by the
2:10
Speaker 3: Navajo Nation. We could see canyon lands and arches and
2:15
Speaker 3: stopped at a We couldn't go to Masa Verde because
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Speaker 3: that's in Colorado and Colorado's closed down. So we went
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Speaker 3: to a little town called Bluff's, Utah, which was a
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Speaker 3: delightful place. A town of three hundred people, had a
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Speaker 3: really nice hotel. That's sort of in the middle of
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Speaker 3: the Bear's Ears National Monument, founded in eighteen eighty or
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Speaker 3: eighteen seventy nine by a group of Mormon pioneers who
2:38
Speaker 3: fought their way across the Grand Canyon, and he's in
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Speaker 3: almost insurmountable physical barriers to get into this little valley.
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Speaker 3: It's quite a story and we had a great time.
2:51
Speaker 3: Got back last week. Not a lot of news breaking,
2:56
Speaker 3: you know, on the on the state front. Really, we've
2:59
Speaker 3: legislative sessions getting ready to convene here in January. We've
3:02
Speaker 3: got a couple of months out. The interims have been
3:06
Speaker 3: going on. There's been some discussion, and we spoke of
3:08
Speaker 3: this Coop and I did about a month ago or
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Speaker 3: so when this you first popped up in an op
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Speaker 3: ed that was in the gazette. And then I think, well,
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Speaker 3: I know Commissioner Selango was on the show. Here the
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Speaker 3: I think Dave Allen show to talk about. It's the
3:26
Speaker 3: issue of when does the person become eligible for release
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Speaker 3: from prison if they're convicted of the crime a first
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Speaker 3: degree murder. Now West Virginia, murder is still governed by
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Speaker 3: common law rules. Mean, we have a statute that says
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Speaker 3: murder in the first degree is arson, poison, lying in wait,
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Speaker 3: or in the commission of a felony. It's all inclusive
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Speaker 3: in one statue. They go to Pennsylvania, they have a
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Speaker 3: first degree murder premeditated murder, and they have no parole whatsoever.
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Speaker 3: They have second degree murder, which has no parole, But
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Speaker 3: it is the equivalent of our felony murder rule. It's
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Speaker 3: just another way of saying felloning murder. It doesn't imply
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Speaker 3: less culpability or less premeditation. It's just a different way
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Speaker 3: of statutorily defining the crime. You know, we had the
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Speaker 3: death penalty in West Virginia into nineteen sixty five, so
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Speaker 3: the alternative to the death penalty was life in prison,
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Speaker 3: and there was a provision the death penalty was abolished.
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Speaker 3: Life in prison without the possibility of parole as the
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Speaker 3: maximum functional equivalent of the death penalty in West Virginia.
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Speaker 3: That is, for a killing that's both intentional malicious, that is,
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Speaker 3: with a dark and evil heart, and some degree of premeditation.
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Speaker 3: Although under the common law rule here in West Virginia,
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Speaker 3: premeditation can be instantaneous. It can be the time it
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Speaker 3: takes a person to draw a weapon. It could be
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Speaker 3: the time it takes a person across the room. It
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Speaker 3: doesn't imply, as you often see on like forensic files,
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Speaker 3: people who plan and premeditate for days, they look up
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Speaker 3: on the internet how to get away with murder? Clearly
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Speaker 3: a thought out process which implies obviously greater criminal intent
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Speaker 3: or cyenter and if you plan as opposed to an
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Speaker 3: occurrence that may happen over of course, for a few
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Speaker 3: minutes or even a few seconds in a crowded room
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Speaker 3: or a home. But when the death penalty was abolished,
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Speaker 3: the less lesser degree of confinement for murder in the
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Speaker 3: first degree was eligibility for parole after ten years. In
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Speaker 3: nineteen ninety four, that eligibility was increased to fifteen years.
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Speaker 3: We still don't have the death penalty. I spoke with
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Speaker 3: Coop about number one. I thought the op ed was
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Speaker 3: a bit misleading because it implied, and I think it
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Speaker 3: would a dangerous implication for the public, is that any
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Speaker 3: number of people convicted the first degree murder or walking
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Speaker 3: out of confinement after fifteen years. As a practical matter,
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Speaker 3: that's not the case. As a practical matter, about twenty
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Speaker 3: anywhere between twenty five and thirty years is the minimum
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Speaker 3: period that the pro board is going to consider to
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Speaker 3: release anyone who's been convicted of first degree murdered. It
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Speaker 3: is the worst offense you can commit. God's most precious
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Speaker 3: gift is taken away in his presentation. And actually I
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Speaker 3: heard from ben On. I think it was an email
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Speaker 3: message or maybe a comment on Facebook his point, which
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Speaker 3: is well taken. He's married to Terra Selanga and Terry's brother,
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Speaker 3: Todd Farley was killed in a murder that took place
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Speaker 3: at in Danny's restaurant at in Nitro. Hearing all the
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Speaker 3: evidence that Jerry recommended mercy. That was back Houston. The
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Speaker 3: murder took place in ninety four, in ninety two. Convicted
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Speaker 3: in ninety four. You know, his eligibility was ten years
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Speaker 3: because the lesser statute applied. But he's still in prison
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Speaker 3: thirty three years later. However, that requires the family. Now,
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Speaker 3: Todd's bomb just died last year. Sadly, Terry's mother passed away.
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Speaker 3: May have been earlier this year, but they've they've made
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Speaker 3: eight trips to make appearances before the pro board. Now,
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Speaker 3: even though the practicality is that person's probably not going
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Speaker 3: to be released, the families, those persons who have suffered
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Speaker 3: the most feel compelled and I think appropriately so, to
7:42
Speaker 3: make an appearance and express their opposition to that person's release. Well,
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Speaker 3: that certainly is a It just picks the scab every
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Speaker 3: couple of years. So in my position, I think, don't
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Speaker 3: be We shouldn't act on an emotional impat people are
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Speaker 3: being released after fifteen years because they aren't. But I
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Speaker 3: agree with Ben and other people that the legislature should.
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Speaker 3: Why don't we just adopt what the practical, the factual
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Speaker 3: situation is now. I mean, if the pro board is
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Speaker 3: not releasing people, they have sort of an unwritten rule
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Speaker 3: it's going to be twenty five to thirty years. Then
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Speaker 3: make the minimum for eligibility thirty years. I mean, there's
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Speaker 3: any I don't think anybody would say that serving thirty
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Speaker 3: years in prison is excessive for the crime of first
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Speaker 3: degree murder if you're convicted. So I think that there
8:38
Speaker 3: was some talk I saw in the interims about twenty
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Speaker 3: five years to thirty years. I think that's certainly appropriate.
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Speaker 3: We'll see what the legislature does with it. My fear
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Speaker 3: was that, you know, somebody's going to take the idea
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Speaker 3: and sort of politically thumped the tub that people are
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Speaker 3: walking free in fifteen years, and therefore, well, let's just
8:55
Speaker 3: bring back the death penalty, which we I'm opposed to.
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Speaker 3: We don't need. The murder rate is exactly the same
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Speaker 3: in West Virginia now with approximately the same population as
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Speaker 3: it was nineteen sixty five when he had the death penalty.
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Speaker 3: We did have some calls. I mean, Jerry, who's a
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Speaker 3: regular caller, had two words and Harold Gano. Harold Ganeaux
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Speaker 3: is a terrible example of what can happen when the
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Speaker 3: system fails. Harold Ganeaux was convicted of first degree murder
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Speaker 3: based upon a confession that he gave without counsel, and
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Speaker 3: when that conviction was set aside, then he was allowed
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Speaker 3: to plead guilty the second degree murder, which at that
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Speaker 3: time was not less than five no more than eighteen
9:39
Speaker 3: years in prison. Someone in the Division of Corrections somehow
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Speaker 3: thought it was appropriate to send the man to a
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Speaker 3: half way house, to a work release center here in
9:50
Speaker 3: Charleston after it had served three years. Well, you know,
9:54
Speaker 3: you just look at a lot of face and say,
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Speaker 3: you know, wait a minute. This man was convicted of
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Speaker 3: first degree murder in a bad confession. The prosecutor doubted
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Speaker 3: whether he could get a conviction without the confession, so
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Speaker 3: he pleaded the second degree. But it's still the same person,
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Speaker 3: And why are you letting him walk the streets, which
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Speaker 3: he did actually encountered the prosecutor, Pobby Spaulding that sent
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Speaker 3: him to prison. Well, then he killed another person. He did.
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Speaker 3: He murdered a young woman who was quite a decent person,
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Speaker 3: was a social service worker here in Charleston, and now
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Speaker 3: he's back in prison for life. Of course, my response
10:28
Speaker 3: to all, I have two words to counter that. They're
10:30
Speaker 3: fred Zaine. Fred Zaine. Most people remember, maybe a few
10:34
Speaker 3: don't remember that he was a chemist at the State
10:37
Speaker 3: Police Laboratory who just fabricated test results. I don't think
10:44
Speaker 3: we had DNA as advanced at that time. But he
10:47
Speaker 3: was just a go to person to connect people to
10:50
Speaker 3: a criminal activity based upon his interpretation of forensic evidence
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Speaker 3: which was conclusively proven just to be false. He made
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Speaker 3: it up. He just decided who should and shouldn't be convicted.
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Speaker 3: And he was disgraced he had He had left here
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Speaker 3: by the time that his scheme was oncovered. He was
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Speaker 3: down in Texas doing the same thing and it resulted
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Speaker 3: in probably one hundred convictions here being reviewed by the
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Speaker 3: State Supreme Court, many of them set aside because without
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Speaker 3: the bogus forensic evidence, there was no evidence I would
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Speaker 3: add a you know you've also do you remember Robert Springsteen? Yes, yeah,
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Speaker 3: Robert Springsteen, who was a teenager from West Virginia somehow
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Speaker 3: found his way to Texas. Uh. And approximately the same
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Speaker 3: time there was a terrible crime committed. There. Four young
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Speaker 3: girls who were working in a yogurt shop. I think
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Speaker 3: it was not tcb y, but something along those lines
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Speaker 3: were murdered. Uh, maybe in a robbery, maybe just in
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Speaker 3: an active peer on adulterated violence. Uh. One person was
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Speaker 3: convicted or confessed. It was determined that that confession was bad.
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Speaker 3: The same detective who had elsted that confession. Then somehow
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Speaker 3: through informants, got the name of mister Springsty. You know,
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Speaker 3: I think he was from up around Cedar Grove. Picked
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Speaker 3: him up, questioned four hours and hours without the assistance
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Speaker 3: of council, confessed to these murders. Was tried, He retracted
12:21
Speaker 3: his confessions. I would have said anything to get out
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Speaker 3: of that room, but he went on trial, was convicted
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Speaker 3: by a Texas Theurian, sentenced to death. Spent six years
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Speaker 3: on death row in Texas until the extremely conservative Texas
12:35
Speaker 3: Supreme Court said, you know, this confession's just no good.
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Speaker 3: So he was released but still under the threat of prosecution. Well,
12:43
Speaker 3: guess what happened About two months ago. The DNA of
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Speaker 3: a serial killer, a savage, brutal serial killer who had
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Speaker 3: committed suicide after being apprehended I think Missouri for a
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Speaker 3: multiple death, was matched with the DNA found that the
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Speaker 3: scene of the yogurt shop murders, exonerating mister Springsteen, who
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Speaker 3: had been on death row. It's just just something, you know.
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Speaker 3: There's no mistake. You can't make a mistake with the
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Speaker 3: death penal. You cannot rectify it. We've got a policy.
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Speaker 3: We have a statute here people who are confined for life.
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Speaker 3: It means life. Now. We did have one case, you
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Speaker 3: may be familiar with it. It was the Russell family
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Speaker 3: who were up from up around Chesapeake. The man and
13:29
Speaker 3: his wife ran a store and there was a robbery.
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Speaker 3: The man was killed, his wife was savagely beaten. They
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Speaker 3: were both convicted of first degree murder, one of whom
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Speaker 3: reformed himself in prison, and Governor Caperdon commuted his sentence
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Speaker 3: to life with the possibility parole and he was released.
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Speaker 3: Other than that, that's where you stay once the door
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Speaker 3: slam shot behind you. You don't leave until you leave
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Speaker 3: in a coffin. So we'll see what the legislature does
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Speaker 3: with that. I think it's a point well taken by
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Speaker 3: the families of the victims. If, as a practical matter
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Speaker 3: of the pro board is not going to release folks,
14:09
Speaker 3: why go through this sort of painful serade of having
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Speaker 3: a hearing every two years. Just make it what it is,
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Speaker 3: a thirty year wait. If you serve thirty years in
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Speaker 3: prison and you're remorseful and somehow made some steps to
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Speaker 3: make your life meaningful again, nobody's going to bring the
14:29
Speaker 3: deceased back in the family obviously, never once that person released,
14:33
Speaker 3: don't blame them. They're dead relatives, not coming back. But
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Speaker 3: if the law says we have some chance or redemption,
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Speaker 3: then let's make it realistic.
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Speaker 5: So you think, Harvey, that there's obviously there's information out
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Speaker 5: there on what say you take a period of time,
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Speaker 5: So you take fifteen or twenty years and see what
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Speaker 5: the parole board has done with those hearings and see
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Speaker 5: if it is as you said, it's you know, it's
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Speaker 5: kind of unwritten things. Twenty five to thirty years, then
15:02
Speaker 5: you'll have some evidence, I mean, you'll have some oh
15:04
Speaker 5: to show information that would buck that up. What the
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Speaker 5: years should be?
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Speaker 3: Well, I'm trying to think it was Howard. I can't
15:10
Speaker 3: think of his last name. He was the warden that
15:13
Speaker 3: met Olive and he was the ward a Huytensville for
15:14
Speaker 3: a while, and then after he left the state employment,
15:18
Speaker 3: he actually did some work with us at the office
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Speaker 3: as an investigator, and it was we talked about this
15:23
Speaker 3: and he said, oh, Harvey, but you know it's twenty three,
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Speaker 3: twenty four, twenty six years. It's just we know we're
15:30
Speaker 3: going to keep him that long because the proboard as
15:31
Speaker 3: not going to turn them loose. Now. I haven't talked
15:34
Speaker 3: about this with Kylinge Dunlap Brown. Tiling is really I
15:39
Speaker 3: think a good friend of mine. She's from Putnam County
15:41
Speaker 3: and she was on the pro boards. He's back now
15:45
Speaker 3: after a really good career as a magistrate. But yeah,
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Speaker 3: these records are available. Take a look at the here's
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Speaker 3: what is practically happening. So if this is what is
15:56
Speaker 3: practically happening, why are we putting these families of the
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Speaker 3: vic them through this interminable process. It's not a charade,
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Speaker 3: I mean, it's real. But if the practical consensus to
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Speaker 3: the board is we're not going to release or make
16:14
Speaker 3: eligible for parole folks in less than twenty five or
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Speaker 3: thirty years. Okay, then just make that the law and
16:21
Speaker 3: at least the family's then will generationally, Uh, you're a
16:25
Speaker 3: generation removed from the Act. So we'll see what happens.
16:30
Speaker 3: Someone will introduce a deathbed. Well, the two things that
16:33
Speaker 3: we can be sure of is right as reign is
16:35
Speaker 3: going to happen the first day of the legislature, is
16:37
Speaker 3: someone's going to introduce a bill to erect a shrine
16:40
Speaker 3: as Charlie Kirk. And then another bill is going to
16:44
Speaker 3: be introduced or reintroduced to death penalty's that's the sure shooting.
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Speaker 3: I bet the farm on that. But well, let's see
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Speaker 3: what happens. I think, you know, Ben Solanga makes a
16:54
Speaker 3: really good spokesman for his side of the equation. His
16:58
Speaker 3: wife is a living example, you know. I guess the
17:03
Speaker 3: good thing is that there his mother did not live
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Speaker 3: to see, nor did Todd's dad. He's deceased, did not
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Speaker 3: live to see this person walk free. And that's not
17:14
Speaker 3: going to change because he can't be resentenced. He's still
17:16
Speaker 3: going to remain eligible for parole hearings every two years.
17:19
Speaker 3: He's set up again next year. But it will save
17:21
Speaker 3: the future victims from that sort of imposition.
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Speaker 5: It's a thirty six. This is ask the lawyer Harvey
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Speaker 5: Payton or the Peyton Law Firm in Nitro three or
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Speaker 5: This is five ADCs The Voice of Charleston eight thirty
19:38
Speaker 5: eight on this Thursday morning. I'm Jeff Jenkins with Harvey Peyton,
19:42
Speaker 5: the Peyton Law Firm in Nitro. A Thursday morning staple
19:45
Speaker 5: here on five ad WCCHS and Harvey. We've heard in
19:52
Speaker 5: the last couple of days some more information about some
19:55
Speaker 5: tax liens involving now our senator, US Senator Jim Justice.
19:59
Speaker 5: There's a hoppy commentary today. There's a story about some
20:02
Speaker 5: tax liens that have been filed and kind of the
20:06
Speaker 5: same road that we've kind of traveled before.
20:08
Speaker 3: Yes, it is one thing it emphasized and wanted to
20:12
Speaker 3: just briefly say from the bottom of our heart and
20:15
Speaker 3: the city of Nitro. A great reporter, Kenny Bass passed away.
20:19
Speaker 3: Great reporters and the free press make a big difference.
20:21
Speaker 3: Kenny Bass broke the story about the Shenanigans at the
20:25
Speaker 3: Supreme Court. It has resulted in a monumental shift. You've
20:29
Speaker 3: got Brad Michaelhaney, who was a print journalist with the
20:32
Speaker 3: Daily Mail Corporation for the Charleston Gazette Daily Mail Corporation
20:36
Speaker 3: now is with this station. A great reporter, fearless has
20:40
Speaker 3: reported consistently and Hopies commented on this on the tax situation,
20:45
Speaker 3: the debt situation with our former governor now United States
20:48
Speaker 3: Senator James Justice, You've got to look at these stories
20:54
Speaker 3: that somewhat differently. The first story that was broken by
20:57
Speaker 3: Politico first is that there are tax liens filed against
21:04
Speaker 3: Senator Justice and his wife personally in Greenbrier County for
21:08
Speaker 3: several million dollars for non payment of or at least
21:13
Speaker 3: stated non payment of income taxes. You've got to be
21:17
Speaker 3: careful about that. I mean, certainly, it's not a good
21:19
Speaker 3: thing to have a tax lien filed. But you know,
21:23
Speaker 3: these these lians date back to tax periods that ended
21:26
Speaker 3: in two thousand and nine twenty ten, and oftentimes, if
21:30
Speaker 3: a taxpayer is in a legitimate dispute with the IRS
21:33
Speaker 3: about the amount of money that's owed, that does not
21:36
Speaker 3: stop the service from adding significant penalties and interest to
21:41
Speaker 3: the actual tax amount, so that the amount owed often
21:45
Speaker 3: exceeds by five times what any potential tax liability could be.
21:53
Speaker 3: It's not a good thing, certainly, to have a United
21:55
Speaker 3: States Senator with these big lians by the Internal Revenue Service.
22:01
Speaker 3: I would take a wait and see attitude somewhat on
22:03
Speaker 3: those if it's if it is not willful failure to pay,
22:08
Speaker 3: if it's a legitimate dispute, then and the service is
22:12
Speaker 3: getting leveraged by adding penalty and interest and then leaning
22:16
Speaker 3: the full amount, Well that's just a tactic that's used
22:20
Speaker 3: to put pressure on the taxpayer. Now, on the other hand,
22:23
Speaker 3: the story that was broken by Brad Michael Haney and
22:25
Speaker 3: written about over the last couple of days is the
22:29
Speaker 3: tax liens. Another set of tax liens filed in Greenbrier
22:34
Speaker 3: County against the corporate entities that own the Greenbrier Sporting
22:38
Speaker 3: Club and the Greenbrier Hotel, but they are corporate entities
22:42
Speaker 3: controlled by the Justice family for failre to emit sales tax.
22:51
Speaker 3: Now that's serious. That is when you talk about fail
22:54
Speaker 3: to emit sales tax, those are not numbers that are
22:59
Speaker 3: conceived by the taxing authority. I mean the people who
23:02
Speaker 3: are in the business of retail sales services know and
23:10
Speaker 3: are obligated to collect sales tax at the time of
23:12
Speaker 3: the transaction. They have to report their sales on a
23:16
Speaker 3: regular basis large corporations on at least a thirty day
23:20
Speaker 3: basis to the state tax Commissioner's office, so that the
23:24
Speaker 3: tax commissioner can then determine what amount of money from
23:28
Speaker 3: your growth sales has to be remitted or paid over
23:31
Speaker 3: to the tax commissioner to be placed in the state treasury.
23:35
Speaker 3: Sales tax six percent or seven percent if you're in
23:38
Speaker 3: a municipality, and that one percent then goes back to
23:42
Speaker 3: the municipality paid by the state to the municipality. So
23:45
Speaker 3: those are hard numbers. If you see a five hundred
23:48
Speaker 3: and fifty thousand dollars Lean file for fail to emit
23:51
Speaker 3: sales tax, that's a solid number. Either the money was
23:54
Speaker 3: paid or it wasn't. The thing is, the money was
23:58
Speaker 3: paid by the purchasers, Folks who stayed at the Greenbrier Hotel,
24:06
Speaker 3: or went to the Sporting Club the Sneed golf course,
24:09
Speaker 3: bought overpriced and really expensive Casmir sweaters, or maybe went
24:15
Speaker 3: to the spot the Greenbrier for treatment.
24:18
Speaker 5: Or had dinner at the Jerry West forty four prime
24:20
Speaker 5: Sure whatever, Yeah.
24:21
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, those are all paid. They're on your bill
24:25
Speaker 3: when you check out. Somebody put them on their credit card,
24:28
Speaker 3: or they wrote a check, or they paid cash and
24:30
Speaker 3: the money was paid into the entity. And those are
24:33
Speaker 3: trust funds. Now, on a higher level, I'll be honest,
24:39
Speaker 3: I'll say this. I've never represented a merchant who's been
24:44
Speaker 3: charged with failir to emit sales tax. I have represented
24:50
Speaker 3: small business people who have been pursued by the federal
24:54
Speaker 3: government for fail to emit other trust funds like taxes
25:01
Speaker 3: for employees, and people get to prison for that with
25:05
Speaker 3: great regularity. Yesterday, after seeing the story, I took a
25:14
Speaker 3: second to look at the State Tax Department's website. There's
25:19
Speaker 3: actually a publication that anyone can look at. It's publication
25:25
Speaker 3: TSD hyphen four oh seven, which specifically thoughts about West
25:30
Speaker 3: Virginia sales tax collection requirements. One of the sections is
25:36
Speaker 3: in bold print failure to remit, which is what these
25:41
Speaker 3: lians represent. Failure to remit more than once. One of
25:45
Speaker 3: the sections is in bold print failure to remit, which
25:50
Speaker 3: is what these lians represent, failure to remit more than
25:54
Speaker 3: one thousand dollars. And clearly five hundred and fifty thousand
25:57
Speaker 3: or a million three hundred thousand is way over one
26:01
Speaker 3: thousand dollars. Any person who willfully fails to remit the
26:04
Speaker 3: tax collected as required by law for more than thirty days,
26:08
Speaker 3: and these leans all indicate more than thirty days is
26:10
Speaker 3: guilty of a felony can be fined not less than
26:15
Speaker 3: five thousand dollars or twenty five thousand dollars we're in
26:17
Speaker 3: prisoned or both. I think the prison sentence is three years.
26:22
Speaker 3: My question, in my mind, after numerous leans having been
26:28
Speaker 3: filed over the past two years, somebody is willfully not
26:35
Speaker 3: remitting the money. I mean, it's not as if well,
26:38
Speaker 3: we've just made a mistake that one sacked quarter. But
26:42
Speaker 3: where's the prosecuting attorney of Kanawha County in Greenberg County
26:45
Speaker 3: in this mix? I mean that money was collected and
26:48
Speaker 3: not remitted in Greenber County. It should have been remitted
26:50
Speaker 3: to the State Task Commission in Kanawha County. I think
26:55
Speaker 3: that either county would have venue. I mean a grand
26:59
Speaker 3: zeer he convening and jerking some of these officials up
27:03
Speaker 3: here to find out what the deal is, might get
27:05
Speaker 3: this thing moving and stop it again. It's just not right.
27:07
Speaker 3: It's not right to take money from people. That's a million,
27:10
Speaker 3: three hundred thousand dollars that people paid over and think, well, gosh,
27:14
Speaker 3: that's that tax libbility that somebody's keeping and using, probably
27:18
Speaker 3: to cover up for inefficient operations.
27:21
Speaker 5: Let's go to the line. Well, yeah, Bob, you're on
27:23
Speaker 5: the earth, Harvey. Thanks for calling, Bob. Go ahead, Hello, Bob.
27:27
Speaker 4: There's one aspect of these tax troubles that hasn't been
27:33
Speaker 4: talked about. I don't know what the nature of the
27:37
Speaker 4: three may and from nine and the five million from
27:40
Speaker 4: sixteen is, but if it has to do with his
27:45
Speaker 4: adjusting his tax returns, the IRS will send the copy
27:52
Speaker 4: of those adjustments to the state, and the state is
27:56
Speaker 4: potentially going to hit him with another big bill because
28:01
Speaker 4: of the changes in the If it was tax returns,
28:04
Speaker 4: I'm not sure whether it was tax returns or not,
28:07
Speaker 4: but if it was tax returns, he's potentially going to
28:11
Speaker 4: get in deeper there.
28:13
Speaker 5: Thank you, Bob.
28:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true, Bob. And I don't mean to imply
28:16
Speaker 3: by saying that you know, these big leans are subject
28:20
Speaker 3: let's wait and see. I mean it's serious. The IRS
28:24
Speaker 3: does not make up potential tax liability. They are pursuing
28:29
Speaker 3: what's perceived to be legitimate tax liability. Perhaps it's an
28:32
Speaker 3: adjustment made on our return. If it is, and certainly
28:35
Speaker 3: the state of West Virginia has an interest in that,
28:38
Speaker 3: and that may well surface. We just have to wait
28:41
Speaker 3: and see. The secondary issue about fail to emit sales
28:45
Speaker 3: taxes I think is as offensive or more offensive to
28:50
Speaker 3: the people the state of West Virginia than aren'tgoing dispute
28:54
Speaker 3: with the I R S because us we now, I'll
28:59
Speaker 3: say this a matter of disclosure, I have not been
29:01
Speaker 3: to the Greenbrier in a long time, and I'll be honest.
29:04
Speaker 3: One of the reasons is I just do not want
29:06
Speaker 3: to fund the people who own it, period. I mean,
29:11
Speaker 3: there have been some some conventions there for groups of
29:15
Speaker 3: which I'm a member, but I'm just not going to
29:16
Speaker 3: go and not going to sit and pay sales tax
29:20
Speaker 3: on a six hundred dollars a night room that somebody's
29:23
Speaker 3: going to keep to keep afloat and inefficient operation. It's
29:29
Speaker 3: just not right. Not when I have seen clients of
29:31
Speaker 3: mine who have mistakenly tried to keep their business going.
29:37
Speaker 3: A guy that runs a car wash, he just can't
29:39
Speaker 3: afford to pay his employees and pay all of his bills,
29:42
Speaker 3: and he's got the money in the bank to remit
29:45
Speaker 3: that what they call nine forties or nine forty one's
29:48
Speaker 3: they're withholding so security withholdings or withholdings for Federal income
29:52
Speaker 3: tax and They just use that money to keep the
29:55
Speaker 3: business going, keep them thinking, well, if I just keep
29:58
Speaker 3: it going for another month, things are going to get better.
30:00
Speaker 3: Things are going to get better. Then they don't get better.
30:03
Speaker 3: Then they get a lean, then they get a revenue
30:06
Speaker 3: agent calling them, Then they get a summons, and then
30:12
Speaker 3: it's in federal court, and some of them have spent
30:14
Speaker 3: two years in prison. Now I think you know the
30:18
Speaker 3: businessmen who can make a legitimate case. Look, I was
30:21
Speaker 3: just trying to keep this afloat. I'm not living a
30:23
Speaker 3: high lifestyle. I'm just trying to You know, those folks
30:31
Speaker 3: generally suffer civil penalties, probably shut the doors of their business.
30:36
Speaker 3: They're not usually prosecuted if you're driving to work, However,
30:41
Speaker 3: in an Eldorado or for instance, if you're flying back
30:44
Speaker 3: and forth from National Airport to the airport in Greenbrier
30:48
Speaker 3: County four days a week and a private jet so
30:52
Speaker 3: you can go to your job and still sleep at
30:54
Speaker 3: your house in Louisbourg, that might not reflect well in
30:58
Speaker 3: the for the enforcement authority. If you plead, well, I'm
31:01
Speaker 3: just trying to keep the business going here at the
31:03
Speaker 3: Greenbrier Nay nay, nay, right, That's why I would certainly
31:08
Speaker 3: think that the prosecuting authorities who have certainly had the
31:11
Speaker 3: ability to convene a grand jury and to summon the
31:15
Speaker 3: people who are responsible for making these payments. So where
31:19
Speaker 3: is the money and how is it spent? How much
31:22
Speaker 3: of it is reflected in the lines of credit that
31:27
Speaker 3: the senator shows he is he owes the Greenbrier. I mean,
31:31
Speaker 3: is the money going in and going out to pay
31:33
Speaker 3: for a private jet to fly the man back and
31:35
Speaker 3: forth from DC with his puppy when he should be
31:39
Speaker 3: over there in Washington trying to do the people's work
31:41
Speaker 3: and get this government back it. But I mean, that's
31:44
Speaker 3: all that's almost tainted with my political thoughts, and I
31:46
Speaker 3: want to stay away from that. But this I just
31:48
Speaker 3: view this set foe to emit as really serious. It
31:52
Speaker 3: happened last year, all this Hocum Hoppy pointed it out,
31:57
Speaker 3: and his commentary today, I would commend everybody to online
32:01
Speaker 3: Metro News read hopies commentary. Continue to listen. Does that
32:04
Speaker 3: play again today on the station? Played this morning? Yeah?
32:07
Speaker 5: I played this morning. You can listen to it on
32:09
Speaker 5: the podcast. Okay, Metro News this Morning, you listen to
32:12
Speaker 5: it right now on the podcast.
32:13
Speaker 3: Yes, right now. You can also listen to this show
32:15
Speaker 3: on the podcast, So call in and ask a question.
32:17
Speaker 3: We'll have a little tay to day here and then
32:20
Speaker 3: you can listen to yourself on the radio talking to
32:23
Speaker 3: me or me talking to you.
32:24
Speaker 5: Yeah, so last year, am I right Harvey that he
32:29
Speaker 5: kind of said there's a plan we've got to deal
32:31
Speaker 5: with the tax department or whatever, and they just kind
32:34
Speaker 5: of were withdrawn.
32:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, well let's see that. Let's see that plan, right,
32:38
Speaker 3: wouldn't that be something nice? And I will say I
32:41
Speaker 3: want to say, you know, I'm the current administration Governor
32:48
Speaker 3: Patrick Morrissey, and his officials, at least in the one
32:53
Speaker 3: matter that I'm involved in, are far more transparent and
32:57
Speaker 3: far more willing to say, well a mistake was here
33:00
Speaker 3: or there and let's straighten it out. And ever saw
33:03
Speaker 3: from the previous administration, we've got a little ring here,
33:07
Speaker 3: which might mean we have another call. I'm not sure
33:10
Speaker 3: any event, It's a story to pay close attention to,
33:14
Speaker 3: and I hope the folks that go online. It defies politics.
33:19
Speaker 3: It is simply a fact that people should pay their taxes.
33:22
Speaker 3: And if you collect money from people who in good
33:26
Speaker 3: faith splurs for a weekend that the greenbron stretch themselves
33:31
Speaker 3: to pay their bill and pay the taxes. You ought
33:32
Speaker 3: to take the money and pay it over to the
33:34
Speaker 3: state where it belongs.
33:35
Speaker 5: We got a call from ENUS. You're on with Harvey.
33:37
Speaker 5: Go ahead, sir.
33:38
Speaker 8: Well, there's a couple of things. One thing is this
33:40
Speaker 8: whole thing shows the incompetence of the prosecutor system in
33:46
Speaker 8: West Virginia. There's too much power that's given to these prosecutors,
33:52
Speaker 8: whether they can both on this criminal matter you were
33:56
Speaker 8: talking about and on this Jim Justice matter. There's just
34:01
Speaker 8: too much leeway given to prosecutors. I think that's the
34:04
Speaker 8: biggest problem we have here in this state. And the
34:08
Speaker 8: second thing with Justice, why can't he just get a
34:11
Speaker 8: motel room in Washington, d C. What's what's the big
34:14
Speaker 8: deal about that he has to be at home every night?
34:18
Speaker 8: Just doesn't make any sense.
34:20
Speaker 3: Well, doesn't all?
34:21
Speaker 8: He could almost drive, He could almost drive that distance
34:24
Speaker 8: if he wanted to do it every day.
34:26
Speaker 3: Well, I think that's a question that someone should post
34:28
Speaker 3: to the Senator if he would ever have an open
34:31
Speaker 3: press conference and take real questions from real reporters. But
34:34
Speaker 3: I don't think you're going to see that happen. I
34:36
Speaker 3: mean yeah, I mean Joe Manchin had a boat, but
34:40
Speaker 3: he parked over there in Crystal City, someplace where he
34:43
Speaker 3: would go in the evening. So Robert Bird had a
34:45
Speaker 3: house there. Jay Rockeferrell there had a home and he
34:48
Speaker 3: could be critical of these senators. I mean it was
34:50
Speaker 3: a rip on Jennings Randolph was that he using Elkins
34:54
Speaker 3: address of the Tiger Hotel and had a home in
34:56
Speaker 3: d C. But it's important that you be close to
34:58
Speaker 3: where you work. We saw what happened for eight years
35:01
Speaker 3: when the governor wouldn't come and live in Charleston. He
35:04
Speaker 3: would be coaching Burrols basketball while the legislature was in
35:07
Speaker 3: session trying to deal with serious issues confronting this state.
35:12
Speaker 3: And think about this, how would you like to be
35:14
Speaker 3: down in Wyoming County, good solid, hardworking people, or mike
35:19
Speaker 3: Dale County or Parsamingo County where you turn on to
35:22
Speaker 3: Spicott and the water looks like something that came out
35:24
Speaker 3: of a sewer line, and you're being represented in Congress
35:31
Speaker 3: of the United States by somebody who takes their money
35:33
Speaker 3: and flies back and forth on a private plane. Why
35:36
Speaker 3: do I get on that plane and fly to an
35:37
Speaker 3: airstrip in Gilbert and get off and have a little
35:40
Speaker 3: swig of that water. We're not going to see that happen.
35:43
Speaker 3: I mean, what's been done to the southern part of
35:45
Speaker 3: this state is an absolute disgrace. That water system, that
35:50
Speaker 3: water problem. Can you imagine that happening in California or Texas,
35:57
Speaker 3: which is a red state, or California that's a blue state,
35:59
Speaker 3: or New yor York or or Florida. It wouldn't be
36:02
Speaker 3: permitted to happen. But we've got a whole generational of
36:06
Speaker 3: people who are forced we we've got a DP that's as well.
36:10
Speaker 3: It meets drinking water standards. Well, I suspect if we
36:13
Speaker 3: found a mud hole out here after a rainstorm, it
36:15
Speaker 3: probably meets drinking water standards. But do you want to
36:18
Speaker 3: drink it? I mean, it's just a disgrace, and I
36:21
Speaker 3: hope Governor Morrissey and his administration can take you know,
36:24
Speaker 3: if you've got a big rainy day fund, that's one
36:26
Speaker 3: place to look get some money and fix those water
36:28
Speaker 3: systems down there.
36:30
Speaker 8: They talk about having a broad band and all this stuff,
36:35
Speaker 8: because that talked about this a long time ago. These
36:37
Speaker 8: people don't even have decent water and soooed's treatment system.
36:40
Speaker 3: Well, who's gonna yeah, who's gonna go to live there?
36:42
Speaker 8: Inane? Really, it's insane.
36:43
Speaker 3: Really, you've got you've got wealth. You could drive into
36:46
Speaker 3: mcdale County and there's a sign that says mike Dale
36:49
Speaker 3: County Heart of the billion dollar coal Field. Well that's
36:52
Speaker 3: an understatement. It's a trillion dollar coal field.
36:54
Speaker 8: Yeah, look where's all that money going. I do business
36:58
Speaker 8: down there. I've been to Gary in places like that,
37:01
Speaker 8: and you see burned out houses and it's just welched
37:04
Speaker 8: and it's bad. But you go to Gary and Davy
37:08
Speaker 8: and some of those other towns down there to.
37:10
Speaker 3: Horrible Oh yeah, red Jacket or yeah, thanks, And Jeff,
37:14
Speaker 3: you've seen it in the area that you grew up
37:17
Speaker 3: in the eastern end of Dave Hardy grew up up there.
37:20
Speaker 3: I mean, all of my relatives, most of my family
37:23
Speaker 3: lived around Chesapeake and Kelly's Creek, Campbell's Creek. Bell my
37:31
Speaker 3: family moved to Saint Alive. My dad was born in Gallibridge,
37:34
Speaker 3: but we you know, we've been in Saint Albans since
37:36
Speaker 3: the thirties. Uh, they get the short end of the stick.
37:41
Speaker 3: The money goes out and it never comes back. For
37:43
Speaker 3: a little park that's considered a big deal. Sharon Dawes
37:46
Speaker 3: Elementary was used for decades by the Claw County Wood
37:48
Speaker 3: of Education as a dumping ground to punish bad teachers.
37:52
Speaker 3: They'd send them up to Sharon Dawes. You know, you
37:55
Speaker 3: get teachers bailing out of schools to get that we're
37:58
Speaker 3: going to be closed. So he gets building seniority somewhere
38:01
Speaker 3: else just to avoid being consigned to Cabin Creek. Just
38:06
Speaker 3: it's hard to explain, and you know, you know these
38:09
Speaker 3: are the I represent a lot of people from southern
38:12
Speaker 3: West Virginia. I mean I've got good clients. A man
38:15
Speaker 3: and Peach Creek Welch they even represented. At that time,
38:19
Speaker 3: he was the only Republican in Wyoming County that had
38:22
Speaker 3: any position responsibility, and he needed a lawyer. He was
38:26
Speaker 3: constantly being picked on. Nice people in the world. They
38:29
Speaker 3: pay their bills. You know, they're clannish. They to their
38:34
Speaker 3: children like little bear cubs. I mean the just and
38:37
Speaker 3: to see see people have to pour this water and
38:41
Speaker 3: be told by officials, well it's it's safe to drink,
38:44
Speaker 3: when you know they wouldn't drink it. I just get
38:48
Speaker 3: to go to Chief Logan State Park. Now, Chief Loving
38:51
Speaker 3: State Park is heavily used, but you take a look
38:54
Speaker 3: at the lodge. It's a Chief Logan State Park, and
38:57
Speaker 3: you go up and look at what's built for the
38:58
Speaker 3: skiers at Kannaine Valley and there's no comparison. You know,
39:03
Speaker 3: there's no comparison. They built Chief Logan on the cheap.
39:07
Speaker 3: Well that's what we have to We have to do
39:08
Speaker 3: something for those people because we're getting all this money.
39:11
Speaker 3: I just well, let's talk about the law. Yeah, yeah,
39:15
Speaker 3: about the one thing about the law. Tom, We're almost
39:17
Speaker 3: out of time.
39:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, got a minute, got a minute, a minute and
39:20
Speaker 5: a half about the Peyton Law Firm.
39:21
Speaker 3: Well, one of the things that we've had some really
39:24
Speaker 3: bad cases lately. I've hit and run drivers. I want
39:26
Speaker 3: to tell folks, you know, if you if you suffer
39:28
Speaker 3: property damage or an injury from a hit and run
39:31
Speaker 3: driver who's never identified, you have insurance coverage for that.
39:35
Speaker 3: You have uninsured motorists coverage on your policy that specifically
39:40
Speaker 3: will cover because the hit and run drivers presumed to
39:43
Speaker 3: be uninsured. Uh, whether that opens the door to underinsured,
39:48
Speaker 3: that's that question remains to be asked. But you know,
39:51
Speaker 3: don't be afraid to call a lawyer and ask about that.
39:53
Speaker 3: That's what we do with the Peyton Law Firm primarily
39:56
Speaker 3: is litigation, insurance disputes, injury claims twenty eight oh one,
40:01
Speaker 3: First Avenue in Nitro Peytonlawfirm dot Com. You can send
40:05
Speaker 3: us an email that only comes to me or to Tom.
40:08
Speaker 3: We try to return every phone call every day. That's
40:11
Speaker 3: almost impossible. Sometimes we do try and return and mostly
40:14
Speaker 3: do all of our email questions every day. We're here
40:17
Speaker 3: to help people, and we've been in business here at
40:19
Speaker 3: combined over seventy years. And as it says in the
40:23
Speaker 3: disclaimer at the end of our ad, the lawyers who
40:26
Speaker 3: are in this ad and in this office are all
40:28
Speaker 3: licensed to practice in West Virginia and have been at
40:31
Speaker 3: least since nineteen seventy four. And certainly I think personal
40:36
Speaker 3: contact is important, the ability to know the layer of
40:41
Speaker 3: the land I'm going down and later Tod Puttnam County
40:44
Speaker 3: where I've practiced in that courthouse Sinceteen seventy six, So
40:49
Speaker 3: you know your way around.
40:50
Speaker 5: Three or four seven five five five five five six
40:54
Speaker 5: is the number of Peyton Law Firm. Three or four
40:56
Speaker 5: seven five five five five five six or Peytonlawfirm dot com.
41:00
Speaker 5: And that's the way to do it.
41:01
Speaker 3: It is, and it's really good to be with you again, buddy.
41:04
Speaker 3: Great to see you. I was thinking about all the time.
41:07
Speaker 3: They had the other studio over there and here, and so.
41:09
Speaker 2: Have W two four three d r F N Charles
41:12
Speaker 2: STONN W two and three a Q Cross Lanes, w
41:15
Speaker 2: v r C Media Station. We're proud to live here too,