Opinion ID: 776953
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: West Virginia

Text: 49 West Virginia allows for a life sentence upon a third felony conviction. W. Va. Code § 61-11-18(c). West Virginia, however, provides by statute that offenders sentenced to life under the recidivist statute are eligible for parole in 15 years. Id. § 62-12-13. Even if West Virginia would have allowed a life sentence for Bray or Brown, they would have been eligible for parole ten years earlier there than in California. Further, while Andrade concluded that West Virginia does not allow life sentences for non-violent recidivists, 270 F.3d at 765, West Virginia also precludes life sentences for some recidivists with violent prior felonies. 9 50 Under West Virginia constitutional proportionality law, the principal offense, not preceding felony convictions, is the central, albeit not exclusive, focus, since it provides the ultimate nexus to the sentence. Wanstreet v. Bordenkircher, 166 W.Va. 523, 276 S.E.2d 205, 212 (1981) (holding that a life sentence for check forgery violated the state constitution, even though one of the prior felonies was for arson); see also State v. Miller, 184 W.Va. 462, 400 S.E.2d 897, 898 (1990) (finding life sentence disproportionate for an assault conviction that involved a firearm, with prior felonies of breaking and entering, forgery, and false pretenses); State v. Lewis, 191 W.Va. 635, 447 S.E.2d 570, 575 (1994) (holding that a provision of the criminal code requiring a sentence of one year in prison for a third shoplifting offense violated the state constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment). Using this approach, the West Virginia Supreme Court has, on at least one occasion, held a life sentence in violation of state proportionality standards when the offender had a violent prior offense, stressing the remoteness in time of the violent offense. State v. Deal, 178 W.Va. 142, 358 S.E.2d 226, 231 (1987) (finding a life sentence disproportionate for possession of a controlled substance where the record revealed a violent prior felony conviction 16 years earlier). 51 Three of Bray's violent felony convictions occurred 15 years earlier, while the other was eight years before. It is therefore possible that, focusing on the non-violent nature of his petty theft offense and acknowledging that his prior violent felony convictions were dated, Bray's sentence would have been considered excessive in West Virginia. Brown's prior violent felony convictions occurred 13, 19, and 24 years prior to his petty theft offense. His sentence might well have been considered excessive in West Virginia, based on the age of the violent offenses.