Opinion ID: 2355224
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the wanton or reckless belief qualification.

Text: We note at the outset that a mistaken belief in the need to act in self-protection does not affect the privilege to act in self-protection unless the mistaken belief is so unreasonably held as to rise to the level of wantonness or recklessness with respect to the circumstance then being encountered by the defendant. Elliott v. Commonwealth, supra, at 420. KRS 503.120(1) provides as follows: When the defendant believes that the use of force upon or toward the person of another is necessary for any of the purposes for which such belief would establish a justification under KRS 503.050 to 503.110 but the defendant is wanton or reckless in believing the use of any force, or the degree of force used, to be necessary or in acquiring or failing to acquire any knowledge or belief which is material to the justifiability of his use of force, the justification afforded by those sections is unavailable in a prosecution for an offense for which wantonness or recklessness, as the case may be, suffices to establish culpability. (Emphasis added.) The statute first recognizes that all KRS 503 justifications, including self-protection, are premised upon a defendant's actual subjective belief in the need for the conduct constituting the justification and not on the objective reasonableness of that belief. Elliott, supra, at 419. Secondly, the statute recognizes that a defendant may be mistaken in his belief and that the mistaken belief, itself, may be so unreasonably held as to constitute wantonness or recklessness with respect to the circumstance then being encountered. Id. at 420. If so, the statute provides that the justification, e.g., self-protection, is unavailable as a defense to an offense having the mens rea element of wantonness, e.g., second-degree manslaughter, or recklessness, e.g., reckless homicide, as the case may be. Thus, while a wantonly held belief in the need to act in self-protection is a defense to an offense having the mens rea element of intent, it supplies the element of wantonness necessary to convict of second-degree manslaughter; and while a recklessly held belief in the need to act in self-protection is a defense to an offense requiring either intent or wantonness, it supplies the element of recklessness necessary to convict of reckless homicide. Shannon v. Commonwealth, Ky., 767 S.W.2d 548, 548-51 (1988) (  Shannon , Part I ) held that an intentional homicide (or assault) committed under a wanton or reckless belief in the need to act in self-protection results in a conviction of a lesser offense having wantonness or recklessness as the culpable mental state. Specifically, murder or first-degree manslaughter is reduced to second-degree manslaughter by a wantonly held belief or to reckless homicide by a recklessly held belief. However, we have not previously addressed how KRS 503.120(1) affects the defense of self-protection when asserted as a defense to an offense having wantonness or recklessness as the culpable mental state. Shannon did not address how the statute would affect an unintentional homicide (or assault), because Shannon at 551-53 (  Shannon , Part II ) held that self-protection could never be a defense to an unintentional crime. In Elliott, supra , we overruled Shannon , Part II and held that self-protection was available as a defense to an offense predicated on wantonness or recklessness, but did not address the effect of KRS 503.120(1) on a claim of self-protection in that context, because it was not asserted in Elliott that the defendant was mistaken in his belief that he needed to act in self-protection. Footnote 3 at page 420 of Elliott restates the holding of Shannon , Part I and further points out that any actual belief in the need for self-protection, even if wantonly or recklessly held, also precludes a conviction of wanton murder, because such a belief negates the aggravating element of extreme indifference to the value of human life and thereby reduces the offense, if the belief was wantonly held, to an unaggravated wanton homicide, i.e., second-degree manslaughter, or, if the belief was recklessly held, to reckless homicide. The footnote did not address the fact that a wantonly held belief negates the defense of self-protection if asserted as a defense to second-degree manslaughter, and that a recklessly held belief negates the defense of self-protection if asserted as a defense to reckless homicide, because both of those propositions are clearly stated in the last clause of KRS 503.120(1). The statute does not provide that a wantonly or recklessly held belief in the need to act in self-protection always reduces a primary offense to a lesser included offense. It provides that an act in self-protection committed under a wantonly held belief is no defense to an offense predicated on wantonness, and that an act in self-protection committed under a recklessly held belief is no defense to an offense predicated on recklessness. It also follows that an act in self-protection committed under a wantonly held belief does not elevate an offense predicated on recklessness, e.g., reckless homicide, to a greater offense, e.g., second-degree manslaughter. Thus, the fact that the fatal conduct was committed under a wantonly held belief in the need therefor provides no defense to a charge of either second-degree manslaughter or reckless homicide; and the fact that the fatal conduct was committed under a recklessly held belief in the need therefor reduces a charge of second-degree manslaughter to reckless homicide, but provides no defense to a charge of reckless homicide. The following outline explains how an act committed under a mistaken belief in the need to act in self-protection affects the various degrees of homicide: [5] 1. Intentional murder or first-degree manslaughter. a. Actual belief not wantonly or recklessly held = acquittal. b. Wanton belief = second-degree manslaughter, because it constitutes a defense to intentional conduct, the mens rea element of both intentional murder and first-degree manslaughter, but is unavailable as a defense to wantonness, the mens rea element of second-degree manslaughter. c. Reckless belief = reckless homicide, because it constitutes a defense to intentional conduct, the mens rea element of both intentional murder and first-degree manslaughter, and to wantonness, the mens rea element of second-degree manslaughter, but is unavailable as a defense to recklessness, the mens rea element of reckless homicide. 2. Wanton murder. a. Actual belief not wantonly or recklessly held = acquittal. b. Wanton belief = second-degree manslaughter, because it negates the aggravating element of extreme indifference to the value of human life necessary to convict of wanton murder, but is unavailable as a defense to wantonness, the mens rea element of second-degree manslaughter. c. Reckless belief = reckless homicide, because it negates the element of extreme indifference to the value of human life necessary to convict of wanton murder, and constitutes a defense to wantonness, the mens rea element of second-degree manslaughter, but is unavailable as a defense to recklessness, the mens rea element of reckless homicide. 3. Second-degree manslaughter. a. Actual belief not wantonly or recklessly held = acquittal. b. Wanton belief = second-degree manslaughter, because it is unavailable as a defense to wantonness, the mens rea element of second-degree manslaughter. c. Reckless belief = reckless homicide, because it constitutes a defense to wantonness, the mens rea element of second-degree manslaughter, but is unavailable as a defense to recklessness, the mens rea element of reckless homicide. 4. Reckless homicide. a. Actual belief not wantonly or recklessly held = acquittal. b. Wanton or reckless belief = reckless homicide, because a wanton belief could not elevate an offense with a mens rea element of recklessness to a higher offense, i.e. second-degree manslaughter, and a reckless belief makes self-protection unavailable as a defense to recklessness, the mens rea element of reckless homicide.