Douglas Wayne HALL, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee.
No. 2009-SC-000244-MR.
Supreme Court of Kentucky.
April 21, 2011.
Prior to our decision in Wilburn v. Commonwealth, 312 S.W.3d 321, (Ky. 2010), we had allowed the objective element of “deadly weapon” for first-degree robbery to be satisfied by the victim‘s subjective fear that the robber had a weapon, even when there was no evidence that a weapon actually existed. After years of adhering to our common law conception of armed robbery despite clear statutory language to the contrary, in Wilburn we restored the objectivity to robbery first degree by requiring evidence that an actual, not imaginary, weapon was used. We recognized in Wilburn that no amount of intimidation by the robber can turn a finger in the pocket into a gun. By the same token, no amount of fear on the part of the victim can turn an aggressive demand for money into a specific threat of immediate force against a person. As we did in Wilburn with the deadly weapon element of robbery first degree, we should now remove the vestiges of our common law past from second-degree robbery, and recognize that the statutory language “threaten[ing] the immediate use of physical force upon another person” does not mean “putting another in fear.” It requires an expressed or implied threat, communicated by gestures or words, of force upon another person. A frightfully aggressive appearance from which one might infer the use of such force does not satisfy the requirement of our statute.
For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent.
MINTON, C.J., joins.
Julia Karol Pearson, Department of Public Advocacy, Frankfort, KY, Counsel for Appellant.
Jack Conway, Attorney General of Kentucky, Bryan Darwin Morrow, Office of the Attorney General, Frankfort, KY, Counsel for Appellee.
Douglas Hall appeals as a matter of right1 from a judgment convicting him of second-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault, first-degree burglary, and first-degree robbery and sentencing him to an aggregate term of forty-five years’ imprisonment. He raises several issues on appeal.
Rejecting Hall‘s argument for a strict same-elements test for determining the appropriateness of instructing on lesser-included offenses, we approve the trial court‘s reliance on Perry v. Commonwealth2 as authority for instructing the jury on first-degree assault as a lesser-included offense of attempted murder under the evidence presented in this case. But we reverse Hall‘s first-degree assault conviction because the trial court failed to instruct the jury on facilitation to assault, which the evidence also warranted. We affirm the remaining convictions and sentences imposed, and we remand for further proceedings in conformity with this opinion.
This case arises out of a drug-related home burglary and robbery that ended in the violent death of one victim and the serious injury of another victim. Hall admits that he—along with others—planned the burglary and robbery to obtain money from one of the victims, but he contends that he did not intend for the victims to be killed or injured. Hall admits to being guilty of some involvement in robbing the victims; but he asserts that circumstances spiraled out of his control, resulting in unintended consequences for which he received—in his view—excessive convictions and punishment.3 Contending that various errors occurred from the indictment stage through the penalty phase of trial, Hall argues that his convictions should be reversed and his case remanded for a new trial.
Hall and others—including Tony Hodge4—planned to rob Faye Jackson, knowing that she kept thousands of dollars on hand to pay for illegal drugs. Hall testified at trial to seeing Hodge with a gun before Hodge entered Jackson‘s home to rob her. At trial, Hall denied he gave Hodge the gun; but others testified Hall furnished the gun.
Hodge entered Jackson‘s home and immediately opened fire on the victims, Jackson and her boyfriend, Mitchell Turner. Hodge then stabbed both victims and left when he thought both victims were dead. Jackson died. Turner survived.
Hall was not directly involved in the shooting or stabbing. But he drove Hodge to Jackson‘s home and waited outside while Hodge went inside. According to their plan, Hodge agreed to signal Hall when it was time to enter Jackson‘s home and take Jackson‘s money. Hall, unlike Hodge, knew where Jackson kept her money from his previous trips to her house selling drugs.
Although he claimed to be shocked by the sound of gunshots, Hall admitted to entering the home upon Hodge‘s signal and taking the money from Jackson‘s purse. Hall claimed he tried to leave after seeing Jackson wounded. According to Hall, he remained in the Jackson home and further participated because Hodge threatened to kill him if he left.
Hall claims he was shaken by the incident; and he confided in his cousin, Travis Dixon, and in an acquaintance, Tim Shelton. Ultimately, it was Shelton who told police, resulting in Hall and others becoming suspects. Dixon and Shelton testified at trial to what Hall allegedly confided to them. There were significant inconsistencies among the various accounts, including a dispute in the testimony about whether Hall provided Hodge with the gun and whether Dixon or Hall threatened Shelton if he told police.
Hall was indicted for the wanton murder of Jackson, the attempted wanton murder of Turner, first-degree burglary, and first-degree robbery. Following the presentation of evidence at trial, the trial court instructed the jury on the charged offenses. Over Hall‘s objection, the trial court also instructed the jury on first-degree assault as a lesser-included offense of attempted murder and denied Hall‘s
At one point during deliberations, the jury informed the trial court that it was deadlocked. After the trial court gave the jury an Allen charge5 and allowed the jury to review portions of a joint interview of Hall and Dixon by police, the jury eventually reached a verdict. The jury did not find Hall guilty of murder or of attempted murder. But it did find him guilty of second-degree manslaughter of Jackson, first-degree assault of Turner, first-degree robbery, and first-degree burglary.
The jury recommended Hall be sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for second-degree manslaughter, twenty years’ imprisonment for first-degree assault, fifteen years’ imprisonment for first-degree robbery, and fifteen years’ imprisonment for first-degree burglary. The jury further recommended the two fifteen-year sentences for robbery and burglary be served concurrently. Finally, the jury recommended the ten-year and twenty-year sentences for manslaughter and assault be served consecutively. The total sentence was forty-five years’ imprisonment. The trial court entered judgment in accordance with the jury‘s verdict and sentencing recommendation.
II. ANALYSIS.
A. Indictment Charging Attempted Wanton Murder was Harmless Error.
Hall contends he is entitled to relief because he was indicted for a crime that does not exist—attempted wanton murder—even though he was not convicted of that crime. We agree with Hall that a criminal charge requiring proof of attempting to achieve an unintended result is illogical,6 but we do not believe he is entitled to relief under the facts of this case. Our belief is fortified by the fact Hall failed to raise this issue in the trial court.7
Clearly, a conviction for a non-existent crime cannot stand.8 But there appears to be little or no authority concerning whether a defendant who fails to object to an indictment charging an illogical or non-existent crime is entitled to relief when the defendant is not convicted of that charge. Cases from other jurisdictions note that so long as certain indictment defects (such as citations to non-existent statutes or typographical er-
Nonetheless, even though the offense of attempted wanton murder is illogical—if not totally non-existent—we do not see how Hall was misled by the indictment. For example, he was free to argue he could not attempt to reach an unintentional result; and he does not now contend he was misled from being able to do so. And given the fact he was acquitted of this illogical charge and does not specifically allege how he was hampered in trying to defend himself because of this illogical charge, we do not believe he is entitled to reversal of his convictions for other offenses. The error does not arise to the level of palpable error.10
B. No Error in Trial Court‘s Denying Request to Play Entire Joint Interview of Hall and Dixon Due to Hearsay Concerns.
Hall contends the trial court erred by not allowing him to play the entire recorded joint interview police conducted of him and his cousin, Travis Dixon.11 Police conducted the joint interview after both Hall and Dixon became suspects and gave inconsistent statements to police.
Dixon‘s testimony concerned such matters as whether both Dixon and Hall were involved in selling drugs for Hall‘s Uncle Harold and Dixon‘s loaning money to Hall, allegedly giving rise to Hall‘s need to rob Jackson to pay Dixon. Hall apparently confessed his involvement in the robbery to Dixon, and Dixon believed that Hall provided to Hodge the gun used in the robbery. Overall, Dixon‘s testimony portrayed Hall in an unfavorable light, according to Hall.
The Commonwealth elected to play separate interviews of Hall and Dixon and asserts it declined to play the joint interview because of poor audio quality concerns. And from our examination of the record, the trial court allowed Hall to play portions of the joint interview to the jury and eventually even agreed to allow Hall to play the whole interview with the exception of a portion of the interview in which Hall and Dixon repeated what Hodge said, which is presumably excludable hearsay.12 Hall does not specify what, if any, hearsay exception13 might apply to the excluded portion of the interview.
Hall argues that he wanted to play the entire joint interview for the jury in order
Given the limited relevance of Hall‘s asserted reason for playing the entire interview and the fact that Hall was allowed to play all non-hearsay portions of the joint interview and to cross-examine Dixon based on such portions, we find no abuse of discretion15 in the trial court‘s denial of his request to play the entire joint interview.16 And we do not believe the trial court‘s adherence to the rules of evidence, which disallowed the presentation of hearsay testimony about which no hearsay exception was ever asserted, deprived Hall of an opportunity fully to present his defense.17
C. Prosecutor‘s Asking Hall Whether Other Witnesses Were Lying Did Not Amount to Palpable Error or Egregious Prosecutorial Misconduct Warranting Reversal.
On several occasions after pointing out the conflicting accounts from Hall and other witnesses, the prosecutor asked Hall whether the other witnesses were lying. Hall failed to object to these questions so this issue is unpreserved for our review.18
Specifically, these questions put to Hall by the prosecutor about other witnesses lying arose in two main instances. The first instance happened when Hall testified that Dixon sold drugs for Harold Hall, which was contrary to Dixon‘s testimonial denial of selling drugs. The second instance happened when the prosecutor asked Hall about a trip Hall made to Texas with Shelton. During that trip, Hall allegedly confessed to Shelton his involvement in the robbery and told Shelton that he gave Hodge the gun.
We support the wisdom of our precedent that disapproves of the practice of asking a witness whether another witness is lying.19
Even if the questions of who was lying not been asked, jurors would almost certainly wonder who was lying because the conflicting accounts presented. Jurors were forced to determine which witnesses to believe in the course of deciding whether the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Hall was guilty of the charged offenses. And while the fact that the jury ultimately convicted Hall of some of the charged offenses suggests jurors may have found some other witnesses’ accounts more credible than Hall‘s, any such finding likely stemmed in large part from the conflicting accounts that Hall himself gave rather than stemming primarily from the prosecutor‘s questions about whether other witnesses were lying. For example, Hall initially gave one recorded statement to police and then gave another statement in which he claimed to have lied in the first statement on matters as basic as the purpose for his and Hodge‘s trip to Jackson‘s home. And on at least one occasion during his testimony, Hall testified inconsistently with a statement he provided police and claimed he lied during his statement to police. Hall is not entitled to relief on this ground.
D. Trial Court Properly Instructed Jury on First-Degree Assault as Lesser-Included Offense of Attempted Murder Under Facts of this Case.
The trial court instructed the jury on first-degree assault and second-degree assault, which it viewed under the facts of this case as lesser-included offenses of the charged offense of attempted murder. The trial court relied on Perry v. Commonwealth21 as authority for viewing first-degree assault as a lesser-included offense of attempted murder.
Hall objected to instructing the jury on first-degree assault, but he consented to instructing the jury on second-degree assault.22 He argued first-degree assault was not a lesser-included offense of attempted murder. He also claimed that Perry was inapplicable to the facts of his case because his co-defendant principal, Hodge, clearly intended to kill both victims. In Perry, there was evidence the defendant, who shot both victims, intended only to injure one victim.23
Hall did argue in his motion for new trial that he “was not given notice in the indictment or otherwise that he would have to defend against a charge that included serious physical injury as a necessary element.” He also argued in his new-trial motion that Perry‘s rejection of a “strict statutory elements” approach for determining lesser-included offense instruction issues was no longer good law in light of Holland v. Commonwealth24.
1. Perry Facts and Significant Holdings.
In Perry, the Commonwealth cross-appealed from the trial court‘s granting the defendant a new trial on the basis the jury was improperly instructed on and convicted the defendant of first-degree assault, although he was not indicted for this offense.25 The defendant was indicted for attempted murder. He argued he was improperly convicted under the first-degree assault instruction for an offense that included “elements of a distinct criminal offense from that for which the appellant had been indicted....” 26
We characterized Perry‘s argument as calling for a “strict statutory elements” approach for determining whether to instruct on another offense as a lesser-included offense of a charged offense. Such a “strict statutory elements” approach calls for looking at the elements of crimes as set forth by statute rather than looking at the facts set out in the indictment or the evidence presented at trial.27 We declined to adopt a “strict statutory elements” approach, finding it to be an “inherently inflexible” standard embraced by only a minority of courts.28
We seemingly acknowledged in Perry that first-degree assault would not be a lesser-included offense of attempted murder under a strict statutory elements approach. We noted: “Assault in the first degree requires a state of mind, an act and a result, ‘serious’ physical injury. Attempted murder requires only a state of mind and an act, but does not require any injury.” 29 So the statute defining first-degree assault requires finding at least one element—serious physical injury—not required by the statute defining attempted murder. But we concluded the trial court
We noted determinations of whether one offense could properly be characterized as a lesser-included offense of another offense are governed by
A defendant may be convicted of an offense that is included in any offense with which he is formally charged. An offense is so included when:
(a) It is established by proof of the same or less than all the facts required to establish the commission of the offense charged; or
(b) It consists of an attempt to commit the offense charged or to commit an offense otherwise included therein; or
(c) It differs from the offense charged only in the respect that a lesser kind of culpability suffices to establish its commission; or
(d) It differs from the offense charged only in the respect that a less serious injury or risk of injury to the same person, property[,] or public interest suffices to establish its commission.
And we determined under the facts of that case first-degree assault could qualify as a lesser-included offense under
Essentially, first-degree assault was established by proof of the same or less than all the facts required to establish attempted murder in Perry because serious physical injury was not at issue. Because Perry shot the victim, causing serious physical injury but not death, the jury could convict Perry of attempted murder if the jury believed he intended to kill the victim. But it could convict Perry of first-degree assault if the jury believed he intended only to injure the victim. We noted that Perry did not dispute that “serious physical injury” did occur because of the victim‘s being shot and that Perry‘s causing “serious physical injury” would satisfy the “substantial step” element of attempted murder.31
Employing a fact-based approach rather than a strict statutory elements approach, “[t]he only element in this case which separated a conviction for attempted murder from first-degree assault was the mental state of Perry at the time of the incidents.”32 And we concluded that the jury properly determined from the evidence that Perry only intended to injure the victim, whom he was convicted of assaulting in the first degree, “in contrast to their decision that he indeed intended to kill” another victim, whom Perry was convicted of attempting to murder.33 So we determined in Perry that the trial court properly instructed the jury on first-degree assault and reversed the trial court‘s order granting a new trial on the assault conviction.
2. Perry is Still Good Law.
Hall contends this Court noted in Holland v. Commonwealth that other jurisdictions have held that first-degree assault is not a lesser-included offense of attempted murder. Hall argues that Perry‘s holding
Despite our dictum in Holland suggesting that perhaps Perry ought to be reexamined in light of our embracing a “same elements” test for determining whether an offense is a lesser-included offense for double jeopardy purposes in Commonwealth v. Burge, we have not overruled Perry. Perry has continued to be cited in court cases and secondary sources for the specific proposition that first-degree assault can sometimes be a lesser-included offense of attempted murder.37 And it is cited for the more general proposition that a strict statutory elements approach should not be utilized to determine if a trial court should instruct a jury on an unindicted offense as a lesser-included offense of a charged offense. Perry is cited as authority for allowing instructions on uncharged offenses where the facts alleged in the indictment or the evidence presented at trial supported such instructions.38
We are aware of arguments that a Blockburger-type strict statutory elements approach should govern questions of which offenses a trial court may properly instruct the jury on as lesser-included offenses of charged offenses.39 But we decline to adopt such a strict statutory elements approach here, especially in light of Hall‘s failure clearly to advocate such an approach until after the trial was over.
We acknowledge a strict statutory elements approach to deciding lesser-included instruction issues might seem more consistent with our use of that same approach to determining lesser-included offenses for purposes of double jeopardy. We also recognize a strict statutory elements approach might appear to offer more certainty and judicial economy.
But a strict statutory elements approach has its own disadvantages.40 Most importantly, that approach may deprive a defendant of an opportunity for a desired lesser-included offense instruction because of differences in statutory elements even where the defendant is willing to concede that additional elements of uncharged offenses are not really at issue in the case. So we decline to adopt a strict statutory elements approach to determining whether a trial court can properly instruct a jury on an uncharged offense as a lesser-included offense of a charged offense.
Having chosen to retain the fact-based approach embraced by Perry rather than adopt the strict statutory elements approach to determine what uncharged offenses a trial court may properly instruct a jury on as lesser-included offenses of charged offenses, we find no reason to disturb Perry‘s holding that first-degree assault can be a lesser-included offense of attempted murder depending upon the facts of a particular case.
5. Despite Charged Offense of Attempted Murder Not Requiring Element of Serious Physical Injury, Facts Set Forth in Indictment Provided Hall with Notice that Victim May Have Suffered Serious Physical Injury.
Although the indictment did not charge Hall with first-degree assault or otherwise explicitly inform Hall he would have to defend against a charge that included serious physical injury as a necessary element, the indictment did specify that Hall had wantonly engaged in conduct resulting in Hodge shooting and stabbing Mitchell. And, as a matter of common sense, most defendants notified they are charged with engaging in conduct resulting in a victim being both shot and stabbed surely suspect the victim was seriously physically injured. So Hall‘s post-trial claims of surprise at having to defend against allegations of serious physical injury seem suspect on a common-sense level. And we believe that the trial court properly applied Perry to allow an instruction on first-degree assault as a lesser-included offense of attempted murder despite the fact that the statutory offense of first-degree assault can require certain elements (such as serious physical injury) not required by the statutory offense of attempted murder.41
6. Perry Supports First-Degree Assault Instruction Under Facts of this Case.
Perry holds that where the victim‘s suffering a serious physical injury is not really at issue, a first-degree assault instruction can be given as a lesser-included offense when the defendant‘s intent (to kill or to injure) determines whether he or she is guilty of first-degree assault or attempted murder.42 And we believe this holding applies to warrant a first-degree assault instruction in this case, despite some obvious factual differences between this case and Perry.
Perry is somewhat different in that Perry was charged with attempted intentional murder and convicted of first-degree assault as a principal, whereas Hall was charged with attempted wanton murder as a complicitor. Despite this factual differ-
E. Trial Court Erred in Refusing to Instruct on Facilitation to Assault.
Although the trial court properly instructed the jury on first-degree assault under a complicity theory44 as a lesser-included offense of attempted murder, we reverse Hall‘s first-degree assault conviction because the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on facilitation to assault as a lesser-included offense of complicity to assault despite the existence of evidence to support such an instruction.
While Hall objected to a first-degree assault instruction, he requested that a facilitation to assault instruction be given if the trial court instructed the jury on first-degree assault. Defense counsel did not actually tender a facilitation instruction. But Hall‘s counsel argued that evidence Hall drove Hodge to the victim‘s home and provided the gun to Hodge45 but did not intend that anyone be hurt was sufficient evidence to support a facilitation instruction.46
The trial court declined to give a facilitation to assault instruction, stating it was not warranted under the facts and the statute (
A person is guilty of criminal facilitation when, acting with knowledge that another person is committing or intends to commit a crime, he engages in conduct which knowingly provides such person with means or opportunity for the commission of the crime and which in fact aids such person to commit the crime.
The trial court offered Hall‘s denial of knowledge that Hodge would assault the victim as one reason why it refused to
The Commonwealth argues the trial court properly denied a facilitation instruction because in Hall‘s trial testimony, (1) he denied knowing of Hodge‘s intent to assault anyone and (2) he denied providing the gun to Hodge. The Commonwealth cites Smith v. Commonwealth47 as authority for the proposition that a facilitation instruction should be denied when the defendant denies knowledge of the principal co-defendant‘s intent to commit the crime.48 But we distinguished Smith as a case with a lack of sufficient evidence to support facilitation in Chumbler v. Commonwealth49. We indicated in Chumbler that even where a defendant denied knowl-
edge of a principal co-defendant‘s intent to commit the crime, the defendant may be entitled to a facilitation instruction where the jury could infer the defendant‘s knowledge from the defendant‘s conduct.50
Despite Hall‘s denials of knowing of his co-defendant‘s intent and of providing a gun to his co-defendant, there was evidence to support an instruction on facilitation to assault. A jury was not obligated to accept Hall‘s denial of knowledge of Hodge‘s intent to assault or his denial of providing the gun to Hodge.51 In the alternative, a jury could infer Hall‘s knowledge of Hodge‘s intent to assault from Hall‘s admitted knowledge Hodge possessed a gun when entering the premises to rob Jackson. And a jury could believe other witnesses’ testimony that Hall provided Hodge with the gun52 and could also consider the fact Hall admittedly drove Hodge to the scene of the crime to conclude that he provided a means or opportunity for Hodge to commit the assault without intending to promote the assault. So there was evidence that would support instructing the jury on facilitation to assault.
It is possible a reasonable jury could find Hall not guilty of assault by complicity and, yet, find beyond a reasonable doubt that Hall was guilty of facilitation to assault; so an instruction on facilitation as a lesser-included offense of complicity to assault was warranted.53 The jury could in-
F. Trial Court Properly Denied Request for Instructions on Facilitation to Robbery and Burglary.
We have concluded the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on facilitation to assault, but we further conclude the trial court properly denied Hall‘s requests for instructions on facilitation to robbery and facilitation to burglary.
A defendant is not entitled to an instruction not supported by the evi-
dence.55 And, as the trial court noted, the evidence was that Hall clearly took an active role in planning and carrying out the robbery and burglary, including going into the home and taking money. There was no evidence he merely facilitated the burglary and robbery.
We explained in Monroe v. Commonwealth56 the difference between complicity and facilitation: “a complicitor must be an instigator, or otherwise invested in the crime, while a facilitator need only be a knowing, cooperative bystander with no stake in the crime.” 57 Here, Hall admitted to being an instigator, who planned with others to burglarize and rob Jackson, with a clear vested interest in the crimes—the desire to obtain money to meet his drug-related and other expenses. And there was no evidence presented indicating he was merely a bystander who knew Hodge would rob and burglarize the victims but was indifferent as to whether the crime would be committed and had no stake in the crime.58 To the contrary, the uncontradicted evidence showed Hall took an active role in planning and carrying out the burglary and robbery; consequently, he was not entitled to an instruction on
G. Prosecutor‘s Asking Jury to Send Message to Hall in Closing Argument of Guilt Phase Did Not Create Palpable Error or Constitute Egregious Prosecutorial Misconduct Warranting Reversal Under Facts of this Case.
Hall contends the prosecutor made an improper “send a message” argument to the jury in closing argument in the guilt phase of the trial, although he admits he did not preserve the issue through objection.60 We expressed disapproval of “send a message” arguments in the guilt phase of trial in Cantrell v. Commonwealth,61 even though we recognize that certain “send a message” arguments may be legitimate in penalty-phase closing arguments where such arguments are narrowly focused on deterrence objectives and do not attempt to bring community pressure to bear on the jury.62 But even “send
a message” arguments in the guilt phase of trial do not always constitute palpable error.63
From our review of the record, it appears that the prosecutor asked the jury to send a message to Hall—not to the community—about what a local jury would tolerate in the community. To the extent that the prosecutor made an improper “send a message” argument, it did not appear to be an egregious one. And because the prosecutor did not clearly insinuate that the jurors would be subjected to scorn from their community if they did not convict Hall or urge the jury to convict Hall for reasons other than the evidence and reasonable inferences from the evidence, Hall is not entitled to relief.64
To the extent the argument may have been improper, we do not believe it amounted to reversible prosecutorial misconduct because the argument does not appear to have been so “improper, prejudicial[,] and egregious as to have undermined the overall fairness of the proceed-
H. No Palpable Error Arose from References to Recidivism Rates in Penalty Phase.
Although admitting the issue is unpreserved, Hall contends palpable error arose because the prosecutor improperly asked a witness during the penalty phase about national parole recidivism rates.66
Hall called a jail official to testify that Hall was very well behaved at the jail; he seemed remorseful; and, in the jail official‘s judgment, Hall could be rehabilitated. The prosecutor objected, stating the jail official was not qualified to give opinions on whether someone could be rehabilitated. The trial court allowed Hall to ask the jail official about his qualifications to express such an opinion. The jail official then acknowledged he was not qualified to state whether someone could be rehabilitated, but he was qualified to testify about whether Hall would likely re-offend. The jail official stated Hall “did not strike” him as someone who would re-offend if given proper support in the form of treatment for drug addiction.
The prosecutor then asked the jail official on cross-examination if he held himself out as an expert on whether someone released on parole would re-offend and asked him if he knew the national statistics for parolees re-offending. The official testi-
fied he did not know such national parole statistics but stated that around 82 percent of inmates in the local jail would return; however, he believed that Hall would be in the 18 percent who did not return to the jail if Hall received help.
Any error in the discussion of recidivism rates here did not amount to palpable error because the witness did not actually discuss recidivism rates of people released on parole. The witness admitted not knowing the national statistics. Although he volunteered the fact that a large majority of local jail inmates returned to his jail, the tenor of his testimony was that he believed Hall would be unlikely to get into trouble again if he got help for substance abuse. In short, we do not find this inquiry into recidivism rates resulting in a law enforcement officer testifying favorably about Hall‘s chances of staying out of trouble affected his substantial rights or resulted in a manifest injustice. There was no palpable error67 and no reason to reverse on this ground.
I. Trial Court Properly Denied Motions for New Trial.
“We review the trial court‘s denial of [an] Appellant‘s new trial motion for abuse of discretion.”68 We discern no such abuse of discretion here upon the specific allegations raised in Hall‘s motion for new trial, which we discuss in turn.
Hall alleges the trial court did not sufficiently investigate post-trial allegations of juror misconduct. He filed original and amended motions for a new trial, which were based partly on post-trial allegations a juror told other jurors during deliberations that she had an uncle who was severely punished for killing a man in a bar fight, she believed Hall should receive at least as severe a punishment, and she had researched penalties on the internet.
Hall attached to his motion for a new trial an affidavit by a juror (#40) who had made the allegations about another juror (#215). Hall also claimed that Juror #215 had failed to reveal her uncle‘s criminal history on her jury qualification form, which asked whether anyone in a prospective juror‘s family had a criminal history, and during voir dire questioning.
The trial court conducted a hearing on the issue and questioned Juror #215 about the allegations. Juror #215 denied making such statements and said she only used the internet for making vacation reservations.
The trial court denied this first motion for a new trial. The trial court observed that jury qualification forms are not sworn statements and further found any failure to note an uncle‘s criminal history on such a form was not an intentional act because the term family was not defined on the form. The trial court also reviewed the record of the voir dire and found that prospective jurors were not questioned about criminal history of family members. Lastly, the trial court found that Juror #215 denied conducting any internet research during trial and further noted defense counsel notified prospective jurors about the penalty range for charged and lesser-included offenses during voir dire. The trial court concluded that Hall “has not established improper outside influence upon the jury.” The trial court noted that following the hearing involving Juror #215, the court was notified Hall mistakenly identified Juror #215 and that some other unidentified juror made the statements.
Hall then filed a second motion for a new trial, claiming that he misidentified the allegedly tainted juror and requested another Juror (#256) be called in for questioning. The trial court declined to do so in a written order denying the second motion for a new trial. The trial court explained the sworn affidavit of Juror #40 specifically identified Juror #215 as the juror who allegedly conducted internet research and noted it was notified that the wrong juror had been called after its questioning of Juror #215. And it found that the information provided by Hall in the second motion for a new trial was insufficient to justify holding another hearing because there was no indication that Juror #256 had “discussed any outside information with the jury panel which in any way [a]ffected their decision,” and Juror #40‘s affidavit indicated that “her” (apparently referring to juror who allegedly conducted internet research) “opinion was not persuasive with the jury.” Then, citing
In a similar unpublished case, we affirmed a trial court‘s denial of a motion for a new trial where a sole juror alleged juror misconduct in an uncorroborated affidavit and held that this one juror‘s unsupported allegations were insufficient evidence to prove juror misconduct.69
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for a new trial, and the trial court properly refused to conduct further proceedings to question jurors about alleged juror misconduct that was not brought to the trial court‘s attention until after the trial.
2. No Reversible Error in Trial Court‘s Refusal to Investigate Further Post-Trial into Allegations that Dixon Watched Trial and Denial of New Trial on this Basis.
Hall contends the trial court erroneously denied his motions for a new trial and did not conduct a sufficient investigation on allegations Dixon watched trial proceedings on closed circuit television during trial. During the middle of trial, Hall alleged Dixon watched Hall‘s trial on closed circuit television from jail and contended this was a violation of
The trial court questioned Dixon about the allegations. Dixon claimed to watch only portions of Hall‘s and Sue Hall‘s testimony, and the trial court noted Hall and Sue Hall testified after Dixon. The trial court also found Dixon‘s watching the trial rendered little apparent effect on Dixon‘s
testimony, which was consistent with an earlier statement Dixon made to police. But the trial court allowed Dixon to be cross-examined and impeached by defense counsel concerning his watching the trial.
Following trial, Hall filed a motion for a new trial in which he alleged Dixon actually watched much longer portions of the trial and provided a supporting affidavit to that effect from a defense law clerk who further investigated allegations of Dixon watching the trial. Apparently, other inmates and jail personnel said they saw Dixon watching the trial on days other than those Dixon admitted in his earlier testimony. Hall claims Dixon watched Shelton‘s testimony and conformed his testimony to Shelton‘s, although he does not allege specifically how Dixon‘s testimony conformed to Shelton‘s. The trial court denied the motion for a new trial and refused to conduct additional hearings on this issue.
In its written order denying the first motion for a new trial, the trial court explained its reasoning for denying a new trial or other relief upon the allegations that Dixon watched additional testimony in jail:
With the additional information presented by the Defendant in the Motion for New Trial, the Court must examine the importance of Mr. Dixon‘s testimony and the effect of what he might have heard on his testimony. [Hatfield v. Commonwealth, 250 S.W.3d 590, 594 (Ky. 2008)]. During the course of the investigation, Mr. Dixon was interviewed by Detective Chris Short with the Kentucky State Police. His testimony at trial remained consistent with the prior statement[,] and the defense had ample opportunity to cross examine him on the
first day he testified and when they recalled him on the fourth day of trial. While his testimony was not favorable to the Defendant, it was more cumulative in nature.
If Mr. Dixon was watching the trial at the time stated by Officer Nicholson (2/24/09 at 11:00 a.m.), he would have heard Detective Short describe the crime scene and would have observed the crime scene video. This information would have little effect, if any, on his testimony. Officer Nicholson‘s statement is consistent with that of Travis Dixon regarding the portion of the trial viewed. The concern during trial was that Mr. Dixon heard the testimony of Tim Shelton. Mr. Dixon was specifically questioned regarding this matter and denied hearing the testimony. Additionally, the defense had opportunity to cross-examine and impeach Mr. Dixon after learning that he watched a portion of the trial.
As we explained in Woodard v. Commonwealth,70 the rule requiring separation of witnesses on request,
Similarly, here, the trial court questioned Dixon about his watching portions of the trial at the jail and allowed him to be cross-examined by defense counsel about watching portions of the trial at the jail. We discern no abuse of discretion. Furthermore, we note that Dixon told the trial court he heard only Hall‘s and Sue Hall‘s testimony so it did not believe his watching these portions of the trial had any effect on his testimony especially because the trial court believed that Dixon‘s testimony was consistent with a prior statement he gave police. As for later allegations that Dixon watched more testimony than he admitted to the trial court, even assuming such allegations were true, Hall fails specifically to allege how Dixon‘s testimony was actually affected by other witnesses’ testimony. Although he generically asserts that Dixon tailored his testimony to Shelton‘s testimony, he does not specifically allege how Dixon‘s testimony followed Shelton‘s testimony.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Hall‘s motion for a new trial on the ground that Dixon violated the rule on separation of witnesses73 or in denying further hearings on this issue.
J. Hall is Not Entitled to Further Relief for Alleged Cumulative Error.
Although we reverse Hall‘s first-degree assault conviction due to the trial court‘s erroneously refusing to instruct the jury on facilitation to assault, Hall is not entitled to any further relief for other alleged errors as he “received a fundamentally fair trial with any [other] errors being so mi-
III. CONCLUSION.
For the foregoing reasons, we reverse Hall‘s conviction for first-degree assault, affirm all other convictions, and remand for further proceedings in conformity with this opinion.
All sitting. ABRAMSON, CUNNINGHAM, NOBLE, SCOTT, and VENTERS, JJ., concur. SCHRODER, J., concurs, in part, and dissents, in part, by separate opinion.
SCHRODER, J., concurring, in part, and dissenting, in part:
I concur on the manslaughter, burglary, and robbery convictions. However, as to the first-degree assault conviction, I dissent on grounds that the indictment failed to state an offense.