STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
 

FILED State of West Virginia, Plaintiff Below, 

Respondent June 15, 2015 

RORY L. PERRY II, CLERK 

SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS 

vs) No. 14-1036 (Monongalia County 09-F-190) OF WEST VIRGINIA 

William Nicholson, Defendant Below, 

Petitioner 

MEMORANDUM DECISION 

Petitioner William Nicholson, by counsel Scott Shough, appeals the Circuit Court of 

Monongalia County’s September 5, 2014, order resentencing petitioner to two consecutive 

terms of incarceration of five to fifteen years for two counts of incest. The State of West 

Virginia, by counsel Derek Knopp, filed a response. On appeal, petitioner argues the circuit 

court erred in finding that his guilty plea was entered intelligently, knowingly, and voluntarily. 

This Court has considered the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal. The facts and legal 

arguments are adequately presented, and the decisional process would not be significantly aided 

by oral argument. Upon consideration of the standard of review, the briefs, and the record 

presented, the Court finds no substantial question of law and no prejudicial error. For these 

reasons, a memorandum decision affirming the circuit court’s order is appropriate under Rule 21 

of the Rules of Appellate Procedure. 

In 2009, a Monongalia County Grand Jury indicted petitioner on three counts of incest 

and one count of sexual abuse by a custodian of a child. In July of 2009, petitioner pled guilty by 

information to two counts of incest, in violation of West Virginia Code § 61-8-12. In exchange 

for his guilty plea, the State dismissed the remaining counts. In September of 2009, the circuit 

court sentenced petitioner to two consecutive terms of incarceration of five to fifteen years. 

Furthermore, the circuit court sentenced petitioner to twenty years of supervised release upon 

expiration of his prison sentence. Thereafter, the circuit court resentenced petitioner for the 

purpose of a filing a petition for appeal. It is from this order that petitioner now appeals. 

On appeal, petitioner argues that he did not intelligently, knowingly, and voluntarily enter 

his guilty plea because he was not informed that as part of his plea agreement, he was required to 

serve a period of supervised release upon completion of his prison sentence. Upon review of the 

appendix record, it is clear that during the sentencing hearing the circuit court informed 

petitioner that, in addition to his sentences for two counts of incest, that he was also sentenced to 

twenty years of supervised release following his release from the penitentiary. Furthermore, it is 

clear that petitioner never brought this issue to the circuit court’s attention or otherwise objected 

to his sentence, which included a period of supervised release. We have previously held that our 

“general rule is that nonjurisdictional questions not raised at the circuit court level will not be 

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considered to the first time on appeal.” State v. Jessie, 225 W.Va. 21, 27, 689 S.E.2d 21, 27 

(2009) (citing Whitlow v. Bd. of Educ. of Kanawha County, 190 W.Va. 223, 226, 438 S.E.2d 15, 

18 (1993)). Because petitioner failed to raise this issue below, the Court declines to consider the 

same on appeal. 

For the foregoing reasons, the circuit court’s September 5, 2014, order is hereby 

affirmed. 

Affirmed. 

ISSUED: June 15, 2015 

CONCURRED IN BY: 

Chief Justice Margaret L. Workman 

Justice Brent D. Benjamin 

Justice Menis E. Ketchum 

Justice Allen H. Loughry II 

DISSENTING: 

Justice Robin Jean Davis 

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