NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Christopher Boyd Johnson appeals, as a matter of right, 1 his convictions for murder, tampering with physical evidence, and being a second-degree persistent felony offender (PFO 2). Johnson argues that the trial court erroneously (1) excluded evidence supporting his alternative-perpetrator theory, (2) denied his motion for a directed verdict, and (3) allowed the Commonwealth to introduce his mug shot into evidence. After reviewing the...
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT A Russell Circuit Court jury found Appellant, Reid Rippetoe, guilty of manufacturing methamphetamine and being a second-degree persistent felony offender (PFO). For these crimes, Appellant received a twenty-year prison sentence. He now appeals as a matter of right, Ky. Const. 110(2)(b), alleging that (1) the Commonwealth failed to disclose its expert witness in violation of RCr 7.24, (2) the Commonwealth failed to prove appropriate venue,...
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Appellant, Mercer County Fiscal Court ("Mercer County"), appeals from a decision of the Court of Appeals which denied it a credit for unemployment benefits paid to Appellee, Jerry Arnold. Mercer County argues on appeal that KRS 342.730(5) mandates that it receive a credit for the unemployment benefits paid to Arnold during the time period in which he was later adjudged to be permanently and totally disabled. For the following reasons, we...
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Appellant, Uninsured Employers' Fund, appeals from a decision of the Court of Appeals which held that Appellee, Old Taylor Partners, LLC, was not an "up-the-ladder" employer of injured worker, Osbaldo Rueda. On appeal, the Uninsured Employers' Fund argues that the determination that Old Taylor Partners did not perform demolition work on a regular and recurrent basis is not supported by substantial evidence. We disagree, and accordingly...
Certification of Law by Chief Justice MINTON. Under Section 115 of the Kentucky Constitution and Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure (CR) 76.37(10), the Commonwealth moved this Court to certify the law on the question of whether a conviction for which a defendant is currently on felony pretrial diversion can be used as a qualifier to indict that defendant as a second-degree persistent felony offender (PFO 2) when he commits a later felony offense. We hold that it cannot. And we hold that the...
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Cynthia Mullins appeals from a Judgment of the Pike Circuit Court convicting her of first-degree assault and imposing a twenty-year sentence. Mullins raises five issues on appeal: (1) the Commonwealth failed in its burden to show a serious physical injury justifying a finding of assault in the first degree; (2) the trial court erred in denying the motion for mistrial based on the improper testimony of a pretrial services officer; (3) the...
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Appellant, Sherman Douglas Perry, appeals as a matter of right, Ky. Const. 110 (2)(b), from a judgment of the Martin Circuit Court convicting him of second-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault, and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol/drugs, and sentencing him to a total of thirty years' imprisonment. The charges resulted from an automobile accident in which Appellant, while driving under the influence of...
Opinion of the Court by Justice SCOTT. The Adair Circuit Court found Appellant, Stephen H. Poindexter, a licensed attorney, in criminal contempt of court for failing to appear at a client's arraignment. The Court of Appeals subsequently affirmed and we accepted discretionary review. Appellant argues to this Court that (1) he was under no duty to appear at the arraignment because he had withdrawn from representing the client, and (2) even if he had a duty to appear there were insufficient...
CERTIFYING THE LAW OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE VENTERS. Pursuant to CR 76.37(1), 1 this Court granted the certification request of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky to answer the following question of Kentucky law: Whether an anti-assignment clause in an insurance policy that requires an insured to obtain the insurer's prior written consent before assigning a claim under the policy is enforceable or applicable when the claimed loss occurs before the...
Opinion of the Court by Justice VENTERS. Appellant, W.B., an adult citizen residing in Jefferson County, Kentucky, appeals from a decision by the Court of Appeals which affirmed the Jefferson Circuit Court's denial of his Petition for a Declaration of Rights pursuant to KRS 418.040. The petition sought a declaration that the statutory and regulatory provisions associated with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and its sub-unit the Department of Community Based Services' (DCBS) process...
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Appellant Edward Marquise Stokley was convicted of murdering Lavena Gibson, along with several other crimes. He raises five issues on appeal. The Court finds that while the trial court did commit error in this case, there was no prejudice to the Appellant, and his convictions are hereby affirmed. I. Background Appellant and Gibson lived together in a relationship at Appellant's Lexington home, which they shared with his mother, Barbara....
Opinion of the Court by Justice NOBLE. The Appellants Marcus D. Swan and D'Andre Owens were tried and convicted of multiple crimes related to a violent home invasion they carried out in 2008 in which they stole money and threatened to kill the home's inhabitants, two of whom they ultimately shot and one of whom they threatened to rape and sodomize. They raise numerous issues on appeal, some in common and others independently. The Court hereby affirms Swan's judgment of conviction and sentence...
Opinion of the Court by Justice ABRAMSON. Appellant Darius Harris appeals a judgment of the Kenton Circuit Court sentencing him to forty years in prison for murder. Before this Court as a matter of right, Ky. Const. 110(2)(b), Harris raises three errors on appeal. First, Harris claims the trial court erred when it allowed into evidence the fact that he owned two guns, both of which were the same model as the murder weapon, though neither weapon was used to commit the crime. Second, Harris...
Opinion of the court by Justice ABRAMSON. Edward Jacobsen appeals as a matter of right from a Judgment of the Fayette Circuit Court convicting him, following a jury trial, of robbery in the first degree in violation of Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 515.020. The trial court sentenced Jacobsen, in accord with a second jury's findings and recommendations, to a term of twenty years in prison enhanced to thirty years by virtue of Jacobsen's status as a second-degree persistent felony offender (PFO)...
Opinion of the Court by Justice ABRAMSON. In October 2008, Donna Ping, as the executrix of the Estate of her deceased mother, Alma Calhoun Duncan, of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, brought suit in the Franklin Circuit Court against the owners and operators of The Golden Living Center, a long-term care facility in Frankfort, where the seventy-nine year old Mrs. Duncan spent the last several months of her life. The executrix alleges that negligence by the facility's staff and the breach by its...
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, filed a class action complaint in the Jefferson Circuit Court against their Internet service providers, Appellees Insight Communications Company, L.P., and Insight Communications Midwest, LLC (collectively, Insight). Insight's Broadband High Speed Internet Service Agreement (Service Agreement) contained an arbitration...
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT A Boyd Circuit Court jury found Appellant, Alan Scott Williams, guilty of first-degree robbery and of being a first-degree persistent felony offender (PFO). For these crimes, Appellant received a life sentence. He now appeals as a matter of right, Ky. Const. 110(2)(b), alleging that (1) the trial court erred by permitting counsel to question the credibility of witnesses and (2) the Commonwealth exceeded the scope of KRS 532.055 during the...
Opinion of the Court by Justice SCOTT. A Bourbon Circuit Court jury found Appellant, Bass Webb, guilty of two counts of attempted murder and one count of being a first-degree persistent felony offender (PFO). For these crimes, Appellant received a fifty-year prison sentence. He now appeals as a matter of right, Ky. Const. 110(2)(b), alleging that (1) evidence that he was a former inmate was erroneously admitted, (2) evidence that he threatened a prison guard during apprehension was...
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT Jonathan Craig Cardwell appeals from a June 22, 2011, Judgment of the Muhlenberg Circuit Court convicting him of arson in the first degree. Cardwell argues that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for a directed verdict because there was insufficient evidence to support the charge of arson. He also claims that the trial court erred when it failed to hold a suppression hearing after it was notified that Cardwell made incriminating...
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE SCOTT. A Jefferson Circuit Court jury found Appellant, Angela Baumia, guilty of murder, first-degree wanton endangerment, first-degree criminal mischief, and driving under the influence. For these crimes, Appellant received a thirty-five year prison sentence. She now appeals as a matter of right, Ky. Const. 110(2)(b), alleging that the trial court erroneously: (1) allowed the introduction of Appellant's pre-arrest silence during the Commonwealth's case-in-...
