Zayer Adams v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, 2016 SC 000627

Background

On Feb. 4, 2016, Zayer Adams assaulted his ex-wife Stephanie Shakoor at her apartment, leaving her naked, beaten, with facial fractures and other injuries; a fire had started on the stove and police rescued occupants.
Adams fled through the front door, was arrested, and charged with second-degree assault, first-degree unlawful imprisonment, first-degree fleeing/evading police, and as a persistent felony offender.
A jury convicted Adams on the charged counts and recommended consecutive terms (15 years for assault, 7 years for unlawful imprisonment); sentencing resulted in a concurrent 20-year term to comply with KRS 532.110(1)(c).
Adams appealed as of right raising five issues: fair cross-section claim (jury racial composition), denial of Batson motion, denial of directed verdicts, admission of jail phone-call recordings, and admission of details of prior charges/convictions during penalty phase.
The Court reviewed constitutional and standard-of-review principles (fair cross-section/Batson; sufficiency for directed verdict; abuse of discretion for discovery/continuance; palpable error for unpreserved sentencing-phase error).

Issues

Issue	Adams' Argument	Commonwealth's Argument	Held
Fair cross-section of jury venire	Jury panel underrepresented African-Americans (only one African-American juror); violated Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments	Jury selection was random; Adams produced only census data and no proof of systematic exclusion	Denied — Adams failed to make prima facie showing of systematic exclusion; random selection presumed adequate
Batson challenge to peremptory strike	Peremptory strike of an African-American venireperson was racially motivated	Strike was race-neutral: potential bias toward a Commonwealth witness (officer had ticketed her)	Denied — trial court’s race-neutral finding not clearly erroneous; no abuse of discretion
Directed verdicts on assault and unlawful imprisonment	Insufficient evidence of "serious physical injury" and elements required for convictions	Victim testimony and medical evidence showed facial fracture, sinus injury, concussion-like symptoms, prolonged pain; sufficient for juror finding	Denied — evidence sufficient for reasonable juror to convict beyond a reasonable doubt
Admission of recorded jail phone calls	Late disclosure prejudiced defense; calls should be excluded	Prosecution disclosed before trial; defense counsel declined continuance at defendant’s direction	Denied — no abuse of discretion; appellant cannot claim prejudice from his counsel’s refusal to seek continuance
Admission of details of prior charges/convictions at penalty phase	Introduction of indictments, plea agreements, victim names, and unredacted records was improper and prejudicial	Prior convictions and limited nature may be admissible for sentencing; Commonwealth did not emphasize improperly admitted details	No reversible palpable error — admission of some unredacted material was erroneous but did not produce manifest injustice or substantial prejudice

Key Cases Cited

Miller v. Commonwealth, 394 S.W.3d 402 (Ky. 2011) (fair-cross-section prima facie test)
Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522 (U.S. 1975) (jury from representative cross-section requirement)
Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (U.S. 1986) (three-step framework for peremptory-strike racial discrimination)
Mash v. Commonwealth, 376 S.W.3d 548 (Ky. 2012) (census data alone insufficient to prove underrepresentation)
Doss v. Commonwealth, 510 S.W.3d 830 (Ky. 2016) (random selection combats discrimination in jury selection)
Castaneda v. Partida, 430 U.S. 482 (U.S. 1977) (equal protection limits on systematic exclusion)
Benham v. Commonwealth, 816 S.W.2d 186 (Ky. 1991) (standard for appellate review of directed verdicts)
Parson v. Commonwealth, 144 S.W.3d 775 (Ky. 2004) (prolonged pain can satisfy "prolonged impairment of health" element)
Parker v. Commonwealth, 482 S.W.3d 394 (Ky. 2016) (limits on evidence of prior indictments/plea agreements in penalty phase)