Opinion ID: 2270462
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Precursor Instruction.

Text: Finally, in his petition for rehearing, Appellant requests that the trial court be directed on remand to instruct the jury on possession of a methamphetamine precursor, KRS 218A.1437(1), as a lesser included offense, citing KRS 446.110, which provides in pertinent part: If any penalty, forfeiture or punishment is mitigated by any provision of the new law, such provision may, by the consent of the party affected, be applied to any judgment pronounced after the new law takes effect. See Commonwealth v. Phon, Ky., 17 S.W.3d 106, 107-108 (2000). According to Appellant, KRS 218A.1437(1), by creating a new lesser included offense, effectively mitigated the penalty or punishment imposed by KRS 218A.1432(1)(b). We need not decide here this apparently novel question of whether a newly created lesser included offense is within the purview of KRS 446.110. Since we hold that Appellant cannot be convicted under the chemicals alternative of KRS 218A.1432(1)(b), the new statute does not create a lesser included offense applicable to this case. Instead, it creates a separate offense that is not applicable to this case because it was created after the conduct for which Appellant was indicted occurred. U.S. Const., Art. I, §§ 9-10; Ky. Const. § 19.