Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Izzac Christopher Weister v. West Virginia
Paid petition · Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, No. 21-0263 · judgment November 3, 2022
Certiorari denied · February 27, 2023
Pre-decision estimate: 1% cert probability
Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
- Izzac Weister was criminally charged with sexual offenses as a result of electronic messages that he sent to his half sister. The trial court found Mr. Weister not competent to stand trial because Mr. Weister was cognitively impaired as the result of a brain injury. Under West Virginia law, the consequences of being found not competent differ based upon whether a charged offense may be characterized as violent. The West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s ruling that Mr. Weister’s offenses “involved acts of violence against a person,” resulting in Mr. Weister’s indefinite custody in a psychiatric facility. The question presented is whether the West Virginia Supreme Court’s convoluted definition of violence has rendered the West Virginia competency law impermissibly vague in violation of Mr. Weister’s due process rights.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Kevin David Mills
Kevin D. Mills and Associates, pllc
For respondent
Lindsay Sara See
Office of the West Virginia Attorney General
Case
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Proceedings
- Feb 27 2023Petition DENIED.
- Feb 08 2023DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/24/2023.
- Feb 07 2023Waiver of right of respondent State of West Virginia to respond filed.
- Feb 01 2023Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 6, 2023)