CHARLESTON, W.Va – Kanawha County Chief Circuit Judge Carrie Webster says that prosecuting attorney Debra Rusnak did not follow the proper protocol in asking to be removed from the case against Alyssa Middleton.
Rusnak filed a motion Monday requesting her disqualification from the case, along with the appointment of a special prosecutor, due to alleged threats by the family of John Lucas, the Elkview man Middleton is accused of intentionally hitting and killing with an ambulance earlier this year.
That motion was initially submitted to Webster, which the judge indicated is improper. West Virginia law states that after a defendant is indicted, a motion for the disqualification of a prosecutor must be heard by the judge presiding over the criminal case.
As a result, Webster stated in her findings that the motion must be filed with Circuit Judge Dave Hardy, who is over the case in which Middleton is charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Additionally, Webster found that Rusnak erred in filing the motion under the court system’s “P” category as a miscellaneous filing.
The judge described a discussion between her law clerk and Rusnak in which the prosecutor allegedly stated she did not understand “what the big deal was” because she believed Webster had signed off on motions of this kind throughout her term as chief judge.
Webster indicated that 22 miscellaneous proceedings have been assigned to her, none of which involved a motion to disqualify the prosecutor. She further cited a 2025 filing under then-Chief Judge Kenneth Ballard as evidence of Rusnak utilizing the proper protocol in the past.
The ruling also says that Rusnak’s statement that the court did not follow procedure in the past is “preposterous” and states that the prosecutor is “cautioned to do her due diligence before stating something untrue in any documents she files with the Court, especially when she provides no evidence to support her contention.”
Webster ordered Rusnak to file the motion with Hardy, and it was entered into the case’s record on Monday.