State ex rel. Williams v. Narick

In State ex rel. Williams v. Narick, 164 W.Va. 632, 264 S.E.2d 851 (1980), the accuser, who was charged with murder, sought a writ of prohibition contesting the trial court's rulings concerning the admissibility of confessions made by the accused and his competence to stand trial. The Court denied the writ, and explained that "in the absence of jurisdictional defect, the administration of justice is not well served by challenges to discretionary rulings of an interlocutory nature. These matters are best saved for appeal and, as a general rule, do not present a proper case for issuance of the writ." Narick, 164 W.Va. at 636, 264 S.E.2d at 854 . in Syllabus Point 2 of Narick, the Court held that "in the absence of compelling evidence of irremediable prejudice, a writ of prohibition will not lie to bar trial based upon the judge's pretrial ruling on a matter of evidentiary admissibility."