MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A formal admonishment has been handed down by the West Virginia Judicial Investigation Commission against former Berkeley County Magistrate David DeHaven, who resigned his post and was replaced by Sandy Hamilton last month.
That public admonishment accuses DeHaven of allowing a co-defendant to act as a lawyer in a child neglect case and claiming someone who was not employed by the court was a magistrate assistant when he went to the Eastern Regional jail to conduct arraignments.
The complaint says prior to the incident, no magistrate had ever taken someone not associated with the court into the jail, but in October of last year, DeHaven reportedly went to the jail to hold arraignments and took his girlfriend into the facility with him.
As a result of the investigation, DeHaven agreed to resign from his position as magistrate immediately and to never again seek judicial office in West Virginia.
Dehaven had been elected to the position last year and appointed to the bench in September after the magistrate he defeated resigned early.