Opinion ID: 4541446
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: “Overt Acts”

Text: The second question certified by the circuit court relates to the quantity of controlled substances that are attributable to a defendant who has been charged under W. 9 Va. Code § 60A-4-414(b). In this question, we are asked if W. Va. Code § 60A-4-414(f) requires that overt acts have to be in furtherance of the conspiracy before the trier of fact may attribute to a defendant “all of the controlled substances manufactured, delivered or possessed with intent to deliver or manufacture by other participants or members of the conspiracy.” W. Va. Code § 60A-4-414(f). Answering this question requires us to examine the conspiracy statute within the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, W. Va. Code § 60A-4-414. We begin our analysis with a review of our rules regarding statutory interpretation. When deciding the meaning of a statutory provision, “[w]e look first to the statute’s language. If the text, given its plain meaning, answers the interpretive question, the language must prevail and further inquiry is foreclosed.” Appalachian Power Co. v. State Tax Dep’t of W. Va., 195 W. Va. 573, 587, 466 S.E.2d 424, 438 (1995). See also Syl. Pt. 2, Crockett v. Andrews, 153 W. Va. 714, 172 S.E.2d 384 (1970) (“Where the language of a statute is free from ambiguity, its plain meaning is to be accepted and applied without resort to interpretation.”). With these rules of statutory construction in mind, we examine W. Va. Code § 60A-4-414. It provides, in relevant part: