Opinion ID: 2275955
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Reasonable Doubt/EED

Text: Lickliter claims that reversible error occurred when the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on reasonable doubt as it applied to extreme emotional disturbance. He also asserts that the jury instruction on first-degree manslaughter did not include separate references to his defense of extreme emotional disturbance. Lickliter concedes that this issue is not preserved, but seeks review under RCr 10.26. The palpable error rule in RCr 10.26 is not a substitute for the requirement that a litigant must contemporaneously object to preserve an error for review. RCr 9.22. The general rule is that a party must make a proper objection to the trial judge and request a ruling on that objection, or the issue is waived. See Commonwealth v. Pace, Ky., 82 S.W.3d 894 (2002). See also Bell v. Commonwealth, Ky., 473 S.W.2d 820 (1971). An appellate court may consider an issue that was not preserved if it deems the error to be a palpable one which affected the defendant's substantial rights and resulted in manifest injustice. RCr 10.26. Considering all the circumstances, the failure of the presumption of innocence instruction to separately refer to extreme emotional disturbance in the manner of the specimen instruction found in Commonwealth v. Hager, Ky., 41 S.W.3d 828 (2001) was not palpable error. No error occurred with respect to the manslaughter instruction. See Baze v. Commonwealth, Ky., 965 S.W.2d 817 (1997), which held that it is error to require the Commonwealth to prove the presence of extreme emotional disturbance as an element of the offense of first-degree manslaughter.