Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of fifteen counts of first-degree sodomy, thirteen counts of first-degree sexual abuse, and two counts of witness tampering. Appellant was sentenced to an aggregate sentence of seventy years imprisonment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to sever Count No. 33 of the indictment from the remaining charges; (2) the trial court did not err by consolidating for a single trial the sexual offenses and the witness tampering charges; (3) the jury instructions did not violate Appellant’s right to a unanimous verdict; and (4) Appellant waived any objections to deficiencies in the form of the indictment by failing to object. View "Elam v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree robbery and of being a first-degree persistent felony offender. Defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court violated his right to a public trial when it cleared visitors from the courtroom during the victim’s testimony and when it denied his motion to suppress an out-of-court photo identification. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment on both issues, holding (1) because Defendant failed to object to the courtroom closure, he waived his argument that his right to a public trial was violated; and (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the out-of-court identification was valid. View "Crutcher v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

Appellant waived his right to indictment by a grand jury and agreed to enter a guilty plea based upon an information filed by the Commonwealth charging him with four counts of second degree burglary. Before Appellant formally entered his guilty plea to the original charges, further negotiations took place, resulting in a different plea agreement, under which the Commonwealth agreed to amend each count of second degree burglary to third degree burglary. Appellant was subsequently convicted of four counts of third degree burglary and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on each count, to be served consecutively. Appellant appealed, arguing that the circuit court lost jurisdiction to adjudicate his case when the original charges were amended. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant provided no persuasive basis to invalidate the circuit court’s judgment and to revert to the original plea agreement. View "Pursley v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

Defendant was required to register as a sex offender in Michigan because he was adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for a sex offense. Defendant later moved to Kentucky, where he was charged with failing to register under the Kentucky Sex Offender Registration Act. Defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to the charge. The court of appeals affirmed on appeal, concluding that Defendant was required to register under the plain language of the Act. Defendant appealed, claiming that he was not required to register under the Act because he was a juvenile and was not “convicted” of any crime. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the statute requires registration in the state of Kentucky of any person who was required to register in another state upon that person’s relocation; and (2) because Defendant was required to register in Michigan, he was also required to register in Kentucky. View "Murphy v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

Defendant, a United States citizen and native of Somalia, was convicted of first degree rape. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the trial court violated Ky. Rev. Stat. 30A.410 by failing to provide Defendant with a Somali interpreter for his trial. The Commonwealth sought discretionary review. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that Defendant was not entitled to an interpreter; and (2) the matter must also be remanded for the court of appeals to consider Defendant’s argument under Batson v. Kentucky, which the court declined to address because it reversed Defendant’s conviction on other grounds. View "Commonwealth v. Abukar" on Justia Law

Defendant entered a guilty plea to several drug offenses and was sentenced to one year in prison, probated for one year. Defendant was subsequently cited for a traffic violation. On January 31, 2013, the circuit court served a bench warrant for Defendant’s arrest. On February 12, 2013, at the probation hearing, Defendant argued that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter because his probationary period expired on February 2, 2013. In response, the Commonwealth argued that the warrant issued by the court tolled the expiration period. The circuit court found that it retained jurisdiction and revoked Defendant’s probation. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the warrant expired when served, and therefore, the circuit court lacked jurisdiction. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) a warrant remains “pending” until the defendant is brought before the court, at which time the court may extend the probationary period for a reasonable time until a revocation hearing can be held; and (2) because Defendant’s probationary period was not extended, the court lost jurisdiction to revoke his probation. View "Commonwealth v. Tapp" on Justia Law

The juvenile Appellant in this case, "Bill," a fifteen-year-old eighth-grade boy, was charged with multiple public offenses based on his sexual conduct with his thirteen-year-old girlfriend "Carol", who was not charged. He entered an unconditional admission to amended charges, and the district court entered an adjudication finding that he committed the alleged conduct. After disposition of his case, he appealed to the circuit court, which affirmed. The Court of Appeals denied his motion for discretionary review, but the Supreme Court granted it initially to address constitutional challenges that Bill raised. After consideration of those challenges, the Supreme Court concluded that the appeal should have been dismissed by the circuit court, with no consideration of any of the substantive issues raised, because Bill entered an unconditional admission to the offenses and thereby waived an appeal in this case. View "B. H. v. Kentucky" on Justia Law

Appellant Donald Howard entered an open guilty plea to five counts of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, second offense. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment with a $1,000 fine on each count with two counts running consecutively for a maximum twenty-year total sentence. He appealed, arguing that the trial court's imposition of the statutory maximum sentence was unconstitutional and that the court erred by imposing a partial fee to the public defender and court costs. After review, the Supreme Court held that the trial court did not err in sentencing Howard, assessing court costs, or imposing a partial fee for the public defender. The Court agreed, however, that the trial court erred by imposing the criminal fines, so the criminal fines imposed in the judgment were vacated and the matter remanded back to the trial court for entry of a conforming judgment. View "Howard v. Kentucky" on Justia Law

Appellant David Jenkins appealed his convictions for first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. A jury found appellant guilty and recommended twenty-year sentences for both crimes, to be served consecutively (for a total maximum term of forty years). On appeal, appellant argued: (1) the evidence presented against him at trial was insufficient to support the jury's verdicts and that, accordingly, he was entitled to a dismissal of the charges; and (2) even if the evidence was not so lacking as to require a directed verdict, a number of trial court errors rendered the proceedings unfair and entitle him to a new trial. Agreeing with Jenkins that the jury's instruction on a single count of sodomy when the evidence reflected two such acts, did not comport with recent cases construing the Kentucky Constitution's unanimous verdict requirement, the Supreme Court reversed the sodomy conviction and the sodomy portion of Jenkins's sentence, and remand for additional proceedings. Finding no other reversible error, the Court affirmed appellant's rape conviction and corresponding twenty-year sentence for that crime. View "Jenkins v. Kentucky" on Justia Law

Appellant Kyle Sheets was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of first-degree sodomy. In a separate trial with a separate jury, he was convicted of possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for the sexual-abuse conviction, forty years' for each sodomy conviction, and six years' for the handgun conviction, all to run consecutively, subject to the statutory maximum aggregate sentence of seventy years. Sheets appealed, arguing: (1) the trial court erred when it failed to grant his motions for directed verdicts of acquittal; (2) the trial court violated his right to be free from double jeopardy; (3) the trial court violated his right to a unanimous verdict; (4) the Commonwealth erred when it introduced irrelevant evidence of legal sexual acts between Sheets and his wife; (5) the Commonwealth erred when it alleged Sheets' defense attorney acted immorally or illegally by investigating the allegations; (6) one of the Commonwealth's witnesses gave improper testimony on cross examination; (7) the trial court erred by failing to conduct an in camera review of Sheets's alleged victim's psychological counseling records; and (8) the trial court erred when it included an instruction on a definition of "constructive possession" on his possession-of-a-handgun-by-a-convicted-felon charge. The Kentucky Supreme Court concluded it did not have jurisdiction to review the possession-of-a-handgun-by-a-convicted-felon conviction and sentence on direct appeal because the sentence for that conviction was less than twenty years' imprisonment. Thus, the Court did not address Sheets' final claim of error. The Court reversed appellant's conviction with regard to the sodomy conviction, and remanded that for further proceedings. The Court affirmed in all other respects. View "Sheets . Kentucky" on Justia Law