State v. Bowling (Per Curiam Opinion)
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction, holding (1) Defendant was not prejudiced by the trial court's exclusion of members of the press from pretrial hearings; (2) the circuit court did not commit reversible error by failing to strike two potential jurors for cause; (3) the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by excluding evidence of malfunctions within Defendant's gun; (4) the circuit court did not err by refusing to instruct the jury on manslaughter; (5) the circuit court erred by admitting the testimony of certain witnesses, but the errors were harmless; and (6) the trial court erred by admitting disputed W. Va. R. Crim. P. 404(b) "bad character" evidence, but the error was harmless.
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