## Facts

- Paul Emerson Sims and two accomplices unlawfully entered a family home at night while armed with a shotgun.
- During the burglary, the homeowner shot Sims in the arm.
- Sims discharged the shotgun, killing the homeowner’s son.
- Sims asserted the discharge was involuntary, caused by a muscle spasm triggered by the gunshot wound.
- Sims was charged with first-degree murder under West Virginia’s felony-murder provision based on the burglary.
- Before trial, the court ruled in limine that an “involuntary discharge” theory was not a legal defense to felony murder and excluded related expert testimony.
- Sims pled guilty to first-degree murder and later claimed the plea was involuntary because the ruling and counsel’s advice left him no realistic alternative.

## Issues

1. Whether a defendant may take a direct appeal from a conviction based on a guilty plea when challenging the voluntariness of the plea or the legality of the sentence.
2. What standard governs setting aside a guilty plea based on allegedly incompetent legal advice by counsel.
3. Whether, under W. Va. Code § 61-2-1, felony murder requires proof of malice, premeditation, or specific intent to kill, and whether an accidental or involuntary shooting during a burglary is a defense.

## Decision

- The court held a direct appeal lies from a conviction based on a guilty plea when the defendant raises an issue about plea voluntariness or sentence legality.
- The court adopted a three-part standard for vacating a guilty plea based on counsel’s advice: (1) counsel acted incompetently; (2) the incompetence concerned a matter that would have substantially affected fact-finding at trial; and (3) the plea was motivated by that error.
- The court construed W. Va. Code § 61-2-1 as limiting felony murder to killings occurring during (or attempted) arson, rape, robbery, or burglary.
- The court held felony murder does not require proof of malice, premeditation, or specific intent to kill; an accidental killing during an enumerated felony suffices for first-degree murder.
- The court concluded the trial court correctly ruled the involuntary-spasm theory was not a defense to felony murder and, therefore, counsel’s advice based on that ruling was not incompetent.
- The conviction and guilty plea were upheld.

## Legal Principles

- A conviction based on a guilty plea is subject to direct appellate review when the defendant challenges the voluntariness of the plea or the legality of the sentence.
- The voluntariness of a guilty plea, when attacked based on counsel’s advice on matters within counsel’s expected advisory role, turns on the competency of counsel’s advice.
- A guilty plea may be set aside for incompetent advice only upon proof of: (1) incompetence, (2) a substantial potential effect on trial fact-finding, and (3) causation linking the error to the decision to plead guilty.
- West Virginia’s felony-murder doctrine is confined by statute to killings occurring during (or attempted) arson, rape, robbery, or burglary.
- For felony murder under W. Va. Code § 61-2-1, the State need not prove malice, premeditation, or intent to kill; a killing that occurs accidentally during an enumerated felony satisfies first-degree murder.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed the conviction, holding that an accidental or involuntary shooting during a burglary can constitute first-degree felony murder under West Virginia law and that the guilty plea remained voluntary because counsel’s advice reflected a correct understanding of the felony-murder statute and did not meet the standard for setting aside a plea based on incompetence.


State v. Sims, 162 W. Va. 212, 248 S.E.2d 834 (W. Va. 1978)