HUNTINGTON â As attorneys attempt to navigate uncharted waters created by the COVID-19 pandemic, sides met via a video conference Wednesday in an effort to push a Cabell County and Huntington lawsuit against opioid distributors forward.
During the hearing, a new trial date was set and motions were heard in which the governments accuse three opioid distributors of helping create and fuel opioid abuse in the area.
AmerisourceBergen Corp., McKesson and Cardinal Health â the âBig Threeâ drug distributors â were named as defendants in the lawsuit in 2017, accusing them of blindly pumping pain pills into Appalachia, thus fueling opioid and later heroin addiction. More than 3,000 cases have been filed since by others.
Opioid trials
A federal trial for a case filed by Huntington and Cabell County against drug companies they accuse of creating and fueling the opioid epidemic in the area will not take place in January as planned due to COVID-19.
The lawsuits argue the companies had a duty to monitor and report the high volume of pills being shipped into the area, but ignored it.
The case had been set to go to trial Jan. 4, but U.S. District Court Judge David A. Faber continued the trial indefinitely due to COVID-19. A pretrial conference will now take place Jan. 6 and Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. via videoconference to further discuss the case.
Chief Justice Tim Armstead (left) is sworn in December 15 by U.S. District Senior Judge David Faber. (WV Supreme Court photo)
CHARLESTON – Someone who attended an event last week at the state Supreme Court chambers has tested positive for COVID-19, but it wasn’t any court employee who works at the Capitol.
On December 15, current Chief Justice Tim Armstead was sworn in for a new 12-year term after having retained the seat in this spring’s non-partisan election. According to press releases from the court, the number of people who attended the ceremony was limited because of Coronavirus concerns, and those who did attend followed social distancing and masking guidelines.
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West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals issued the following announcement on Dec. 15.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Tim Armstead began his first full 12-year-term on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia on Tuesday by pledging to continue to work to restore public confidence in the state court system. “I feel deeply honored and deeply privileged to be a member of this Court,” Chief Justice Armstead said. “It is important that the people of our state have respect for their Court.” Chief Justice Tim Armstead was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Jim Justice in September 2018. He was elected November 6, 2018, to retain the seat until the end of the term on December 31, 2020, and was re-elected June 9, 2020, to a 12-year term that will begin on January 1, 2021.
Dec 15, 2020
Elizabeth Haway was sentenced Monday to a maximum of 20 years in prison on child pornography charge. BDT file photo
BLUEFIELD â A Mercer County woman was sentenced Monday in U.S District Court to a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on a child pornography charge involving 5-year-old minor child.
Elizabeth Kaye Haway, 43, of Princeton, was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute child pornography, according to United States Attorney Mike Stuart. Upon completion of her prison sentence, the defendant will serve a 25-year term of supervised release. Haway also was ordered to pay $42,900 in restitution to the child victim.