CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Senate President Mitch Carmichael says a motion could be made in the Senate to remove retired Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis from an impeachment trial but he’s not willing to predict what may happen.
“It’s certainly within the rules of the Senate to make that motion but it would be completely inappropriate for me to determine if such a motion would pass or would be considered in one way or another,” Carmichael said this week on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Currently, despite her resignation on the night the House of Delegates impeached her, Davis is still scheduled to stand trial. She’s been summoned along with suspended Justice Allen Loughry, Chief Justice Margaret Workman and Justice Robin Davis.
“The Senate has the option to do it (keep Davis up for trial),” Carmichael said. “We will consider it when the Articles of Impeachment and the presiding officer set trial dates and have pre-trial motions and those types of things.”
The Senate will next meet Sept. 11 on the issue.
The justices are accused of crossing the line on a variety of items, including failure to hold each other accountable, signing off on skirting the law on payment of senior status judges and spending lavishly on office renovations.
Carmichael said members of the Senate are going to listen to the evidence, make their evaluations and determinations and “make the people of West Virginia proud in the manner that we do this.”
“They take their responsibility very seriously. We’ve all had discussions about making sure that we adhere to the principles that are laid out in the Constitution of being fair, impartial jurors.”