Attorney Todd F. La Neve's Legal Cases

Gun Law

State v. C.W.

Sep 17, 2025

OUTCOME: Dismissed

C.W. was charged with 16 counts of being a prohibited person in possession of firearms due to admitting to occasional use of marijuana. A thorough understanding of 2nd Amendment caselaw and a trend of ... marijuana users successfully fighting prosecution for this type of charge was key for C.W.'s case, as was C.W.'s proof through testing that he had stopped all marijuana use. The prosecutor was willing to listen to our arguments on C.W.'s behalf and was persuaded that the circumstances and legal challenges did not justify C.W. being convicted on the charges and an agreement was entered into by which all of C.W.'s charges were able to be dismissed, preserving C.W.'s right to possess firearms lawfully and remain an armed citizen.

DUI and DWI

State v. J.P.

Sep 04, 2025

OUTCOME: Dismissed

J.P. was charged with DUI following a traffic stop and a breath test result of 0.052%, truly just a hair above the presumptive sobriety BAC of 0.05%. Through negotiation with the prosecuting attorney ... and J.P.'s commitment to follow a few simple rules for a month, we secured an outright dismissal of the charge. To be clear, under WV law, any driver with a BAC between 0.051% and 0.079% is in the range of what is known as "relevant evidence of impairment" and law enforcement can charge the driver with DUI even though they are not over the presumptive legal limit of 0.08%. J.P. is now free of charges and actually eligible to get the criminal record expunged.

DUI and DWI

State v. C.W.

May 21, 2025

OUTCOME: DISMISSED

C.W., a CDL licensed truck driver, was stopped for driving an unlicensed vehicle and crossing into the opposing traffic lane. The officer immediately noted and commented on his swollen and red eye to w ... hich C.W. replied he had just been jumped. The officer gave little further attention to the injury and statement and ultimately arrested C.W. for DUI. We established C.W. had attempted to purchase the vehicle as a fixer-upper and had told the seller that he was not driving that night because he had been drinking, had a CDL, and was not taking any chances with his license which is how he earns his living. The seller offered to pick him up and bring him to the other side of their town to see the vehicle. After getting him there and getting his money, the seller, his brother, and a friend jumped C.W. and began striking him in the face. He fought back against the two trained fighters when the third man pulled a pistol and advanced on C.W. aiming the pistol at his head. Fearing for his life, C.W. knocked the man's hand away, struck him, and gained the space he needed to jump into the running vehicle he had paid for and took off. He was stopped just a few blocks away and ultimately arrested for DUI. We succeeded in showing that WV law justifies a person breaking the law in order to escape death or serious bodily injury, a situation which C.W. clearly faced and the Court agreed he did not intend to drive under the influence but was forced to do so to save his own life. The case was dismissed and C.W. was able to save his CDL, avoid a DUI conviction, and will be able to continue to work and provide for his family.

Gun Law

State v. S.M.

Feb 18, 2025

OUTCOME: DISMISSED

My client was charged with battery and brandishing after his female neighbor came onto his property, up onto his porch, and began an argument with his wife and subsequently him. After repeatedly being ... told to leave, refusing to do so, and mocking my client and his wife, the neighbor continued arguing while my client went into his home, retrieved a pistol, and returned with it at his side. Upon seeing what she believed was the firearm, the neighbor rushed back up the steps of his porch, bumped into him, and began physically harassing him as she tried to get a picture of the pistol. After a moment of her physical aggression, my client backhanded her knocking her to the floor of the porch and then he gave a half-hearted kick with his bare foot directed at the top of her rear end. Immediately, after, he and his wife returned into their home. After months of developing the case evidence, the prosecutor agreed that my client should not have been charged and the State dismissed the charges against him.

Criminal defense

State v. S.S.

Oct 11, 2024

OUTCOME: Dismissed

My client was accused by an acquaintance of hurting her two young children and he was ultimately charged with two counts of battery. Through careful investigation, review of the evidence, and scrutiny ... of the bodycam video from three separate officers, we were able to demonstrate that the claims were grossly exaggerated that my client caused any harm whatsoever to the children. When confronted with the evidence and the fact that the mother of the victims refused to return contact from the prosecutor's office to discuss the case, the prosecutor agreed that the inconsistencies evident in the case file suggested the lady was being deceptive about her accusations against my client. Because we presented such a compelling argument, the prosecutor himself chose to dismiss the case.

Gun Law

J.T. v. State

Apr 24, 2024

OUTCOME: Firearm Rights Restored in Full

J.T. had been involuntarily committed for a mental health evaluation in 1993 as a teenager and, unknown to him, the mental health record remained in the state's central registry for such matters even t ... hough he was released after the minimum time frame when it was determined he did not suffer from any sort of mental health troubles. Upon attempting to purchase a firearm 30 years later in his new home state in the western US, he was denied the purchase and informed why. J.T. hired me to seek restoration of his gun rights and we prepared and filed a Petition seeking an order from the court that he was entitled to such a restoration. After a hearing, the court noted that the Petition was well prepared and made its job easy as it was clearly evident J.T. did not suffer from any sort of mental health issues, had a clean and favorable mental health evaluation as part of the Petition process, was a fit person to exercise his 2nd Amendment rights, and was not likely to violate the law with respect to the 2nd Amendment. The court granted the Petition and J.T.'s rights were successfully restored and his name was removed from the central registry of mental health records.

DUI and DWI

State v. J.H.

Apr 11, 2024

OUTCOME: Dismissed

J.H. was charged with DUI following a minor traffic crash that resulted when he backed out of a parking lot onto the roadway where he was rear ended by an oncoming vehicle. Because J.H. had consumed a ... beer and the officer could smell the alcohol, and because J.H. showed signs of physical impairment, he was arrested. After investigating, I was able to determine that J.H.'s blood alcohol level was substantially below the legal limit in a range that our law presumes the person to be sober, but we believe the officer misread the results. Further, J.H. suffers from a medical condition often associated with older people and the condition causes physical decline over time, including affecting speech patterns and mental sharpness. Upon presenting this evidence to the prosecutor, the State agreed a dismissal was proper and the court granted my request to drop the case completely, fully ending the criminal prosecution.

Domestic violence

State v. H.M.

Mar 06, 2024

OUTCOME: Dismissed

H.M. and A.S. were both charged with 1st offense domestic battery. Upon investigation, the evidence supported a finding that H.M. had responded to the initial physical attack by A.S. in which H.M. su ... ffered cuts to the face and took action that did not escalate the confrontation but rather was within reasonable parameters to protect against further injury. Based on a fair assessment by the prosecuting attorney in light of our factual challenge, the case against H.M. was dismissed.

DUI and DWI

State v. L.R.

Feb 15, 2024

OUTCOME: DUI Dismissed - Plea to Failure to Maintain Control

L.R. was charged with failure to maintain control and DUI 1st with an alleged BAC of .085, only slightly above the legal limit. Upon investigating the case, we were able to determine that the blood al ... cohol concentration was unreliable due to irregularities with the testing procedures used to obtain L.R.'s breath sample. Further, bodycam and dashcam video and audio evidence strongly supported a conclusion that L.R. was not behaving in an impaired manner at any time during interactions with law enforcement. As a result of these factual challenges to the case, the DUI was dismissed and L.R. entered a plea to failure to maintain control for having gotten stuck in a roadside ditch while navigating a narrow, unlined secondary road.

DUI and DWI

State v. J.L.S.

Nov 30, 2023

OUTCOME: DISMISSED

My client was charged with DUI after allegedly speeding, almost striking the arresting officer's moving vehicle on the highway, and not stopping for a long distance after the blue lights were activated ... . Due to a language barrier, there were certain actions not taken to protect my client's rights and it appeared from the only evidence document provided to us - the criminal complaint - that certain things did not add up logically. On top of the red flags in the complaint, the arresting officer had not provided the prosecutor any arrest reports or other investigation documents nearly 90 days after the arrest had occurred. Thanks to a prosecutor who has professional integrity, were able to agree that the case had problems and the only document provided, the complaint, had significant flaws that could not be reconciled. The prosecutor asked the court for additional time to obtain the evidence and we opposed the request on the basis that the court had signed an order 16 days after the arrest for the state to turn over its evidence file and that there had been ample time for the officer to do so. Further, we produced our own evidence of my client's diabetes diagnosis just 13 days after his arrest and his dangerously elevated blood glucose levels would have easily explained much of what the officer claims to have observed the night of the arrest. The court ultimately agreed with our argument and denied the delay requested by the state and then took the added step of dismissing the DUI charge altogether.

Todd F. La Neve's Legal Cases (36)

State v. C.W.

State v. J.P.

State v. C.W.

State v. S.M.

State v. S.S.

J.T. v. State

State v. J.H.

State v. H.M.

State v. L.R.

State v. J.L.S.