Opinion

What will Justice Davis do?

An editorial from The Inter-Mountain

ELKINS, W.Va. — Conflicts of interest and outright corruption are woven into the fabric of local and state government in West Virginia. It is not just history. Shady deals continue to be reported regularly. Arrests on charges ranging from election tampering to bribery are not uncommon.

With that in mind, elected officials who want Mountain State voters to trust them often go out of their way to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

It may be that we are on the route to learning just how high up in government that attitude extends.

Attorneys with a high-flying Mississippi law firm are back in West Virginia after winning a very lucrative settlement just a few years ago. The McHugh Fuller Law Firm is involved in a Harrison County lawsuit involving the death of a nursing home patient.

McHugh Fuller is well-practiced in such matters in our state. In 2011, the firm won a $91.5 million verdict against a West Virginia nursing home. The defendant appealed to the state Supreme Court.

In the interim between the initial verdict and the high court’s action, Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis ran for re-election. She won handily in 2012.

But before the election, McHugh Fuller attorneys and many of their family members and acquaintances in Mississippi and Florida developed a sudden interest in West Virginia politics. They made about $35,000 in contributions to Davis’ campaign, according to news media reports.

During the same period, the firm’s Michael Fuller apparently decided he needed a Lear Jet. He bought one from Davis’ husband’s West Virginia law firm. The price tag: $1.3 million.

Then, in 2014, the state Supreme Court decided in a 4-1 vote, with Davis voting with the majority, to reduce the nursing home case award. Instead of $91.5 million, the amount was cut to $40 million. Eventually, in a settlement, the plaintiffs received $20 million – and McHugh Fuller raked in $17 million for representing them.

When reports of campaign contributions and the jet sale were made public, Davis heatedly denied any conflict. She insisted she did not know who had contributed to her campaign. The jet sale was by her husband’s law firm and had nothing to do with her, she said.

Now McHugh Fuller is back in West Virginia, in a lawsuit that could well result in another appeal to the Supreme Court. If that happens, what will Davis do?

Many elected officials would get as far away from anything involving McHugh Fuller as they could. Appearances count, they understand. Do they, in Davis’ mind?

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