OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE CUNNINGHAM . Our 911 emergency telephone service has become one of the most critical of all local public services. It provides instant access for all Kentuckians in times of need. But dispatching these emergency calls cannot occur without cost. We hold that the fee imposed by the Campbell County Fiscal Court to fund this indispensable service is a constitutional and statutorily valid exercise of its authority. Background Historically, the emergency 911...
Not to Be Published OPINION AFFIRMING CAPERTON, JUDGE. The Appellant, Terry Tyler, is currently serving a life sentence which he received in 1987 for burglary and robbery. Tyler appeals the trial court's denial of his "Motion for Modification of Sentence Pursuant to KRS 532.070." Upon review of the record, the arguments of the parties, and the applicable law, we affirm. Tyler was indicted by the Henderson County Grand Jury for two counts of third-degree burglary, one count of first-degree...
Not to Be Published OPINION AFFIRMING HENRY, SENIOR JUDGE. Juan Leotis Sanders and Cecilia Sanders appeal from the denial of their motion for post-conviction relief under Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure (CR) 60.02. Appellants argue they are entitled to have the judgments against them set aside on the grounds of newly discovered evidence and perjury. After reviewing the record and briefs, we affirm. Appellants were convicted of Planting, Cultivating or Harvesting with Intent to Sell...
OPINION VACATING AND REMANDING COMBS, JUDGE. Anthony Rustin appeals from an order of the Caldwell Circuit Court denying his motion to suppress evidence seized during a search conducted pursuant to a warrant. After our review of the record and the pertinent law, we vacate the order and remand. On the afternoon of September 29, 2006, Trooper William Braden of the Kentucky State Police (KSP) received a telephone call from an anonymous tipster. The caller told Braden that he had observed Rustin...
Opinion of the Court by Chief Justice MINTON. We granted discretionary review to consider in light of controlling precedent, such as the recent United States Supreme Court's decision in Georgia v. Randolph, 1 the holding of the Court of Appeals affirming the trial court's denial of Michael Shawn Payton's motion to suppress evidence. Payton contends that the trial court should have granted his motion to suppress evidence of illegal drugs seized from the master bedroom of his marital...
Opinion of the Court by Justice NOBLE. This case involves an asbestos-related products liability and negligence suit against nineteen corporate defendants. Only two defendants proceeded to trial; the others either settled or won summary judgment motions, and thus had become empty-chair defendants when the case went to trial. At the first trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, but apportioned no fault to any of the empty-chair defendants. The trial court then granted a...
Opinion of the Court by Justice NOBLE. Appellants Zelnar Travis and William Dawson were both convicted of robbery in the first-degree, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, possession of a defaced firearm, and being a persistent first-degree felony offender. They were co-defendants and their appeals are being heard together. They appeal their robbery convictions and the related court costs and fines, as well as their convictions as persistent felony offenders. Finding reversible error...
Opinion of the Court by Chief Justice MINTON. Antonio Bradley entered a conditional plea of guilty but mentally ill to one count of murder and one count of tampering with physical evidence. Bradley unsuccessfully sought to withdraw his conditional guilty plea, and the trial court sentenced him to twenty years' imprisonment for murder and five years' imprisonment for tampering with physical evidence, to run concurrently with each other but consecutively with a cumulative ten-year sentence...
Not to be Published MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT On October 7, 2005, Appellant and his two colleagues, John Edwards and Rayshawn Kelly, broke into a Kenton County house where they found three residents: Shawn Ruff, Michael Johnson, and Phillip Northcutt. The first housemate the perpetrators encountered was Shawn Ruff. While Kelly threatened Ruff, forcing him to the couch on the first floor, Appellant and Edwards went upstairs and found Michael Johnson lying on a bed. They put a gun to his...
MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT I. INTRODUCTION. Russell Winstead appeals as a matter of right 1 from a circuit court judgment following a jury trial in which he was convicted of murder and robbery. 2 The judgment sentenced Winstead for the murder to life imprisonment without parole for twenty-five years (LWOP/25) and for the robbery to twenty years' imprisonment. The trial court ordered the sentences to run consecutively. Following the denial of his post-trial motion for a new trial,...
Opinion of the Court by Chief Justice MINTON. LaShawn Johnson appeals as a matter of right 1 from a judgment convicting him of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, and of being a first-degree persistent felony offender (PFO). Johnson was sentenced to twenty-five years' imprisonment. He contends on appeal that the judgment must be reversed because the trial court refused to instruct the jury on second-degree robbery and second-degree burglary and that his case must be remanded for an...
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE VENTERS Appellants, Michael Schnuerle, Amy Gilbert, Lance Gilbert, and Robin Wolff, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, appeal from an opinion of the Court of Appeals which affirmed an order of the Jefferson Circuit Court dismissing their class action complaint against Appellees, Insight Communications Company, L.P., and Insight Communications Midwest, LLC (collectively, Insight). The circuit court then determined, and the Court of...
Opinion of the Court by Justice ABRAMSON. Roy Rankin appeals as a matter of right from a Judgment of the Fayette Circuit Court convicting him of first-degree criminal abuse, in violation of Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 508.100, and of wanton murder, in violation of KRS 507.020(1)(b). In accord with the jury's recommendation, the Judgment orders Rankin to serve concurrent prison sentences of ten and twenty years, respectively. The Commonwealth alleged, and the jury found, that Rankin abused...
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE VENTERS. Appellant, Joshua Machniak, appeals from an opinion of the Court of Appeals which affirmed an order of the Letcher Circuit Court revoking a probated three-year sentence and sentencing him instead to twenty years' imprisonment. Although it was not reflected in the Judgment and Sentence On Plea Of Guilty, the twenty-year sentence was consistent with Appellant's plea agreement. We granted discretionary review to determine whether the plea agreement in this...
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE ABRAMSON. Debbie Childers appeals from an April 14, 2009 Judgment of the Lawrence Circuit Court convicting her of complicity to trafficking in a controlled substance in the first degree. Finding Childers to be a second-degree persistent felony offender (PFO), the jury enhanced her sentence from ten to twenty years imprisonment and the trial court sentenced her accordingly. Childers raises three issues on appeal: (1) the trial court erred when it ruled she could...
Opinion of the Court by Justice SCHRODER. Defendants/Appellants appeal from an order of the Court of Appeals issuing a writ of prohibition to prevent the deposition of the Plaintiffs'/Appellees' attorney in the underlying civil suit. We conclude that the Court of Appeals erred in issuing the writ. The trial court did not act erroneously, and the Plaintiffs have waived attorney-client privilege with respect to the matters about which the attorney is to be deposed. Therefore, we reverse and...
Opinion of the Court by Justice VENTERS. Appellant, Emil Peter III, seeks a writ of prohibition against the Jefferson Circuit Court to bar an accounting of funds held by him for the benefit of Appellee and Real Party in Interest, Emil Peter IV. Appellant argues that since the funds in question were part of a bequest made pursuant to the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (hereinafter "UTMA"), the Jefferson Circuit Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over this matter. The Court of...
OPINION OF THE COURT An Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found that the claimant's Form 114 requests for reimbursement of medical expenses were non-compensable with respect to expenses incurred more than 60 days before being submitted and that no reasonable grounds excused the delay. 1 The Workers' Compensation Board and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Appealing, the claimant asserts that her reimbursement requests were timely and that her attempts to request reimbursement were reasonable under...
Not to be Published MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Dr. R. Dean Linden appeals from the Court of Appeals' denial of his petition for a writ of mandamus. Linden seeks to compel the Jefferson Circuit Court to hear his claim for injunctive relief. We agree with the circuit court and the Court of Appeals that the circuit court lost jurisdiction to consider Linden's claims upon the filing of a notice of appeal, and conclude that Linden has an adequate remedy on appeal. Therefore, we affirm....
Not to be Published MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Appellant, Derrick Helm, stands convicted of Complicity to Trafficking in a Controlled Substance, First Degree, First Offense, and Persistent Felony Offender in the Second Degree. For these crimes, Appellant was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. He now appeals to this Court as a matter of right pursuant to the Kentucky Constitution. Ky. Const. 110(2)(b). I. Background On March 6, 2008, 1 the Kentucky State Police, with the...
