CHARLESTON, W. Va. — Colleagues throughout the law community in West Virginia are mourning the loss of former Putnam County Circuit Court Judge O.C. “Hobby” Spaulding.
“I don’t know if I’ve met very many attorneys in my life that were so dedicated and consumed by the law,” Putnam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Sorsaia said. “The law was his life.”
Sorsaia frequently worked with the judge after becoming the county’s prosecutor. However, the first began working together in the 1980s while Spaulding served as the prosecutor for Putnam County and hired Sorsaia on as an assistant prosecutor.
Spaulding was known for his sharp intellect when it came to the law, particularly criminal law. He was also known as someone too seek when a question about the law come up.
Sorsaia said this is what he will miss most about him.
“He may agree with you and if he agreed with you, he’d give you a scholarly reason to support your ideas. If he didn’t agree with you, he would challenge you and give you an opportunity to reflect on the flaws of your position.”
Another individual who spent a lot of time in Spaulding’s courtroom and had the chance to know him was Harvey Peyton, an attorney who works in the county.
To Harvey, the thing that always stuck out to him about Spaulding was the manner in which he treated those who appeared before him.
“I never did see Judge Spaulding do anything to me or anybody else that I thought was unfair,” he said. “You didn’t always win, but if you had the feeling that you could turn to you client and say ‘Well, you got a fair trial,’ that’s all you can ask.”
On Thursday, many members of the judicial community and Spaulding’s colleagues shared their sadness and sense of loss.
“He was a mentor to scores of judges and one of the real deans of the bench,” Chief Justice Robin Jean Davis said. “He was always true to the rule of law and to the people he served. He was just a great guy. He will be truly missed by everyone who knew him in the judicial community.”
“Judge Spaulding was an outstanding judge and human being,” Justice Brent D. Benjamin
said. “I had the privilege of knowing Hobby as a fellow judge and as a presiding judge while I was in private practice. He was kind, hard working, brilliant, and, above all, just. I am deeply saddened by his passing.”
“Judge Spaulding was an extremely hard working and respected judge,” said Justice Allen H. Loughry II. “He was a kind and intelligent man who served the citizens of West Virginia with honor. I will miss his quick wit, his sense of humor, and his passion for the law.”
Spaulding’s desire to see things improve extended outside of the courtroom, according to Peyton, as he served in many different roles to see Putnam County become a better place for those who lived there.
“He’d been on the board of public service districts in Putnam County when a great deal of expansion and infrastructure took place and made it a better place to live. He was on the initial board of the Putnam General Hospital when we got a hospital that increased medical services for the county. He was a member of the board for the Children’s Home Society that promoted the adoptions of children that were neglected.”
Spaulding, 63, was first elected to the circuit court in 1992 and reelected in 2000 and 2008. During his judicial campaigns, he would not accept campaign contributions. Rather, he would set aside his own money to fund them.
He retired in December 2011, after serving as judge for 20 years.
The decision came after he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS and Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“It was especially difficult when the Lou Gehrig’s disease began by taking away his ability to
speak,” Steve Canterbury, a friend of Spaulding’s and Supreme Court Administrative Director said. “But with good humor, he carried on with the help of a speaking machine, which he
would use to type his worlds. Ultimately the disease progressed to where he could not
swallow. For some three years he carried on while being fed through a tube. Ultimately,
the disease progressed further and created some other complications and [Wednesday] he
took a decisive final step.”
State Troopers were dispatched to Spaulding’s home near Hurricane where they located his body. His death was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He is survived by his wife, Cabell County Circuit Judge F. Jane Hustead whom he married in 2011.