Sex Offender's Appeal Rejected for Fifth Time

Convicted sex offender Alvin Chambers.

In what seems like an endless ability to appeal a criminal conviction, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals today again rejected the appeal of sex offender Alvin Chambers.

Chambers was convicted by a jury in 2005 of four felony counts of sexual assault and sexual abuse by a parent, guardian, or custodian. Judge Jack Alsop sentenced Chambers to a term of not less than 20 but not more than 40 years in prison. Chambers appealed that conviction and sentence to the Supreme Court and it was rejected back in 2006.

After his 2006 appeal denial, Chambers filed his first writ of habeas corpus, which is effectively another appeal saying he is being detained wrongly. That first writ was denied in 2007 (he did not appeal the rejection of his first writ). In 2010, Chambers filed his second writ of habeas corpus and it was denied in 2011. Chambers appealed the denial of his second writ to the Supreme Court and it was rejected in 2012. In 2013, Chambers filed his third writ which was denied and he appealed it to the Supreme Court, who denied it in 2014.

Which brings us to his filing of his fourth writ in 2015, which was denied by the Circuit Judge, and appealed yet again to the Supreme Court. Today, the Court denied this fourth writ, which is effectively Chambers' fifth appeal attempt to get his conviction and sentence thrown out.

Chambers claimed defects in jury instructions and that his trial counsel was ineffective. Without spending much time explaining why, the high court today found no errors in Chamber's trial.

The full opinion can be read at the link below:

Full Text of Opinion