Opinion ID: 2168800
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of the Passenger's Age

Text: The Commonwealth may introduce background evidence regarding victims because such evidence is relevant to understanding the nature of the crime. Ernst v. Commonwealth, 160 S.W.3d 744, 763 (Ky.2005). Such evidence is not unduly prejudicial to a defendant unless the victim is glorified or enlarged, id. (quoting Bowling v. Commonwealth, 942 S.W.2d 293, 302-03 (Ky.1997)), or unless the evidence is generally intended to arouse sympathy for the victims or their families, id. (quoting Bennett v. Commonwealth, 978 S.W.2d 322, 325-26 (Ky.1998)). This Court has approved the introduction of victim background evidence such as the victim's age, job, interests, and level of education. Sherley v. Commonwealth, 889 S.W.2d 794, 799 (Ky.1994) (Commonwealth told jury in opening statement that victim was eighty-one-years-old); Campbell v. Commonwealth, 788 S.W.2d 260, 263 (Ky.1990) (victim's friend testified that victim was a teacher and frequently exercised); McQueen v. Commonwealth, 669 S.W.2d 519, 523 (Ky.1984) (victim's father testified that victim had completed college and wanted to obtain a Master's Degree). Introducing such evidence is not reversible error because it simply bring[s] to the attention of the jury that the victim was a living person, more than just a nameless void. McQueen, 669 S.W.2d at 523. In this case, the judge properly allowed testimony of the victim's age. Such testimony is admissible as victim background evidence. The record does not suggest that the victim's age was unduly emphasized. Rather, the record shows only that the witnesses and Commonwealth briefly described her by referring to her age. These few descriptions do not amount to making the victim glorified or enlarged, and no evidence supports that they were generally intended to arouse sympathy for her. Cf. Ernst, 160 S.W.3d at 763. Describing the victim as a juvenile or as a high school student is no worse than describing the victim as an eighty-one-year-old woman, which this Court has previously approved. Sherley, 889 S.W.2d at 799. These descriptions seem to be mere offhand comments that show the victim is more than just a nameless void, as in McQueen, 669 S.W.2d at 523. Consequently, allowing the jury to hear these descriptions was not reversible error.
More concerning is that the judge specified in his second-degree wanton endangerment instruction that the victim was a high school student. Such evidence is relevant only as victim background evidence, and not otherwise. Placing this fact in the jury instructions, however, implies the age of the victim may be a relevant consideration to Appellant's guilt. This suggestion arguably violated the judge's duty to instruct a jury in such a manner that they may not be misled, Webb v. Adams, 302 Ky. 335, 339, 194 S.W.2d 515, 517 (1946). Nevertheless, this issue is not properly preserved for appeal. A party may not complain on appeal that an instruction was defective unless that party objected to its defect at trial or offered at trial an alternative instruction without the defect. CR 51(3); Burke Enterprises, Inc. v. Mitchell, 700 S.W.2d 789, 792 (Ky.1985). The record shows that Appellant did not object to the judge's instruction and did not offer an alternative one. Accordingly, this Court will scrutinize the instruction only for palpable error. RCr 10.26. This Court finds that the error, if any, was not palpable as no manifest injustice has resulted. Id. The jury already knew that Appellant's passenger was a high school student, and regardless, Appellant was convicted of wantonly endangering her under an instruction that did not refer to her age. Thus, this is not reversible error.