Title: JOEY HOWARD GRAY V. COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

State: kentucky

Issuer: Kentucky Supreme Court

Document:

IMPORTANTNOTICE NOT TO BE PUBLISHED OPINION THIS OPINIONISDESIGNATED "NOT TO BE PUBLISHED. " PURSUANT TO THE RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDUREPROMULGATED BYTHE SUPREME COURT, CR 76.28 (4) (c), THIS OPINION ISNOT TO BE PUBLISHEDAND SHALL NOTBE CITED OR USED ASAUTHORITYINANYOTHER CASE INANY COURTOF THIS STATE. ' KRS 218A.1415 . 2 KRS 218A.500 . s KRS 532.080 . 4 Ky . Const . §110(2)(b) . ,$uProutt Courf of 'fl APPEAL FROM MUHLENBERG CIRCUIT COURT HONORABLE DAVID H . JERNIGAN, JUDGE 04-CR-00117 MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT AFFIRMING RENDERED : APRIL 20, 2006 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED 2005-SC-000072-MR JOEY HOWARD GRAY APPELLANT COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE Appellant, Joey Howard Gray, was indicted by a Muhlenberg Circuit Court Grand Jury for first-degree possession of a controlled substance' (cocaine) and possession of drug paraphernalia. The indictment also charges Appellant with being a first-degree Persistent Felony Offender (PFO) . 3 Appellant was convicted and sentenced to five (5) years for the possession offense, enhanced to twenty (20) years for the PFO . Appellant appeals his convictions to this Court as a matter of right. Appellant was in his home on the morning of July 17, 2004, when Cameron Laycock, Appellant's parole officer, accompanied by two police officers, arrived at 7:00 a.m. Also in Appellant's home were four other people, a white man, two black men, and a white woman. The white man was lying on the couch, one of the black men was in the master bedroom, and the other black man and the white woman were in the smaller bedroom . One of the men was later identified as Dennis Barnes and one of the black men as "Big Pond ." Appellant gave the officers permission to search his home . The search turned up multiple syringes, a crack pipe with cocaine residue, an unlabeled prescription bottle, and plastic bags with controlled substance (cocaine) residue . Appellant appeared to Laycock, the parole officer, to be under the influence of drugs or intoxicants, and his arms showed signs of needle tracks . Appellant was arrested, taken into custody, indicted and convicted . Appellant claims on this appeal that the trial court erred by failing to sua sponte declare a mistrial after the prosecutor suggested that three of the defense witnesses had colluded to harmonize their testimony . There was no objection, but Appellant asks this Court to review the issue under RCr 10.26 . Barnes, a defense witness, was asked on cross-examination about the events of the night before the illicit drugs were discovered in Appellant's home . Barnes responded to questions about the timing of certain events with "right around dark" and gone for "a couple [of] hours," but he said he wasn't sure because he had been drinking . The prosecutor then asked whether Barnes had stated that it had been "a couple [of] hours" because he had conferred with the Grays . Barnes denied speaking with Rita and Kay Gray, his mother and sister, about it . The prosecutor followed with "You haven't talked with them about this?" Barnes again denied speaking with them. Appellant cites Faulkner v. Commonwealth s as applying to these facts. In Faulkner we held there was prosecutorial misconduct when the prosecutor stated during an objection "[t]hat is just a cock and bull story they have fixed up, ,,6 and later about a defense witness "[t]here is another windbag that won't tell the truth ."' A palpable error, as defined by RCr 10.26, is one that affects the substantial rights of a party and may be considered, even though insufficiently raised or preserved for review, when manifest injustice has resulted from the error. To succeed on a claim under RCr 10 .26 the error must be so profound as to approach denial of due process rights . The concerns of Faulkner simply do not apply to the facts of this case . The cross-examination by the prosecutor, if improper, does not rise to the level violating RCr 10.26. sentences. For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Appellant's convictions and All concur . 423 S.W.2d 245 (Ky. 1968). s _Id . at 247. Id . COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT : Shelly R . Fears Assistant Public Advocate Department of Public Advocacy Suite 302, 100 Fair Oaks Lane Frankfort, KY 40601 COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE : Gregory D . Stumbo Attorney General of Kentucky Clint Evans Watson Assistant Attorney General Criminal Appellate Division Office of the Attorney General 1024 Capital Center Drive Frankfort, KY 40601-8204