Jurisprudence

Prosecutors said a West Virginia state trooper lied on the stand, forcing them to offer a plea bargain to a man charged in the stabbing death of a NASCAR team member.

District Attorney Bill Young said he reduced the charge against Kenny Justice of rural McDowell County from first-degree murder to second-degree murder. Young said he did so because trooper J.J. Miller falsely testified Monday that he never struck Justice during an investigation.

Young said Miller’s testimony would have been crucial for a first-degree murder conviction in the death of Donald Charles Scott because Miller had obtained a videotaped confession from Justice.

Miller denied he lied, but Young said Miller told prosecutors during their investigation that he hit Justice while interviewing him in a previous case.