Title: Nichols v. Com.

State: kentucky

Issuer: Kentucky Supreme Court

Document:

657 S.W.2d 932 (1983) Aubrey NICHOLS, Movant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Respondent. Supreme Court of Kentucky. June 15, 1983. Rehearing Denied November 2, 1983. William M. Scalf, Lexington, for movant. *933 Steven L. Beshear, Atty. Gen., Carl Miller, Asst. Atty. Gen., Frankfort, for respondent. VANCE, Justice. Appellant was indicted for murder and his first trial resulted in a hung jury. On his second trial he was found guilty of second degree manslaughter and sentenced to confinement for ten years. Appellant contends that he was entitled to a directed verdict on his first trial because the evidence was not sufficient to sustain a conviction, and therefore the double jeopardy provisions of the United States and the Kentucky Constitutions prevent his retrial. A reversal of a judgment of conviction on appeal on the ground that no reasonable trier of fact could have found guilt on the basis of the evidence at trial precludes a retrial of the case because of prior jeopardy. Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 98 S. Ct. 2141, 57 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1978); Commonwealth v. Burris, Ky., 590 S.W.2d 878 (1979). In some cases the declaration of a mistrial by a presiding judge when there was no manifest necessity to do so will prevent retrial. United States v. Perez, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat) 579, 6 L. Ed. 165 (1824). Downum v. United States, 372 U.S. 734, 83 S. Ct. 1033, 10 L. Ed. 2d 100 (1963). Harassment of an accused by successive prosecutions or declaration of a mistrial so as to afford a more favorable opportunity to convict are examples of when jeopardy attaches. Gori v. United States, 367 U.S. 364, 81 S. Ct. 1523, 6 L. Ed. 2d 901 (1961). The granting of a mistrial because the jury is unable to agree is a classic example of when a retrial can be had, although the jury originally empaneled was discharged without reaching a verdict and without the defendant's consent. Downum v. United States, supra. There is no argument before us that the trial judge abused his discretion by discharging the jury. Rather, appellant contends that because he was entitled to a directed verdict at the first trial, he cannot be tried again. We have carefully reviewed the evidence at the first trial and hold that appellant was not entitled to a directed verdict of acquittal. The motion for directed verdict, made at the close of the Commonwealth's case and again at the completion of all of the evidence, could not be sustained unless the evidence was such that a reasonable juror could not find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt under any theory of the case on the evidence presented. Trowel v. Commonwealth, Ky., 550 S.W.2d 530 (1977). Evidence was presented at the original trial of an eyewitness who vacillated at trial but admitted that he testified before the grand jury as follows: Although at trial this witness vacillated greatly in the tug of war between examination and cross-examination, he did state that his testimony before the grand jury was truthful and his credibility was for the jury. There was evidence that the appellant and the deceased were drinking heavily before the incident and that they were quarreling and cursing just before they left the bar and went to the parking lot where this shooting occurred. A reasonable juror could have believed from the evidence that appellant deliberately fired a pistol into the automobile with intent to kill the deceased or that under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he wantonly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to another person and thereby caused the death of another person. K.R.S. 507.020. On a motion for directed verdict the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, and viewed from that standpoint the motion was properly overruled. It follows, therefore, that because evidence would have sustained a verdict of guilty had the jury agreed upon such a verdict, the inability of the jury to agree, either as to guilt or innocence, necessitated a mistrial, and a retrial was not precluded by a plea of former jeopardy. Downum v. United States, supra. Appellant objected to the instruction on second degree manslaughter on the ground *935 that no evidence justified such an instruction. He reiterates here that his conviction of second degree manslaughter was unsupported by any evidence of wantonness. The evidence at the second trial was stronger than the evidence at the original trial. Again, the jury was entitled to believe from the evidence that the appellant fired a pistol into an automobile in which the deceased was sitting. The jury was not required to believe appellant's version of the incident in which he claimed that the pistol accidently discharged while he and the deceased were struggling over it. The firing of a pistol into an occupied automobile which causes death of the occupant is murder if the jury is convinced that the shooting was done with the intent to cause the death. The firing of a pistol into an occupied car is also a wanton act and if the occupant is killed unintentionally, it is nevertheless murder if the jury is convinced that the person firing the pistol wantonly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life. K.R.S. 507.020(2). A person is guilty of second degree manslaughter when he wantonly causes the death of another person. K.R.S. 507.040. The 1974 commentary to the penal code makes the following destinction between wanton murder and second degree manslaughter: Wanton conduct was defined in the instructions as follows: We cannot say as a matter of law that a reasonable juror could not believe beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence presented that appellant wantonly caused the death of Phyllis Madden. Likewise, we do not consider the admission of testimony of Ronnie Freels, a ballistics expert, which was objected to by appellant, to be prejudicially erroneous. The Judgment is affirmed. All concur.