Blitz Bureau
CHARLESTON: A West Virginia delegate-elect was ousted while confined to his house on charges related to terroristic threats against his colleagues. Reports AP.
Joseph de Soto, who recently became a Democrat, was elected in November to represent the southern part of Berkeley County in West Virginia’s 91st district as a Republican.
He was arrested in December after saying God had called on him to kill several members of the Legislature, including House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and House Majority Leader Pat McGeehan, who are both Republicans, said the AP report.
De Soto, it said, was released on bond on December 23 by the Berkeley County Magistrate Court, and was ordered to home confinement while awaiting grand jury deliberations. The terms of his confinement stipulate that he can’t contact those he allegedly threatened or have access to any deadly weapons.
The Republican majority House of Delegates vote to declare de Soto’s seat vacant, which means the Governor must appoint someone from his district to fill it. Governorelect Patrick Morrisey, also a Republican, is set to be inaugurated to replace outgoing Governor Jim Justice, who is headed to the US Senate.
The decision followed a tense back-and-forth on the House floor about due process between Democratic Del. Shawn Fluharty and McGeehan, who was explaining the resolution to vacate de Soto’s seat. Fluharty said the state constitution holds that a lawmaker-elect must refuse to take the oath for the seat to be declared vacant, and asked McGeehan if there was any evidence de Soto had refused.
