Opinion ID: 2271140
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Indictment Charging Attempted Wanton Murder was Harmless Error.

Text: Hall contends he is entitled to relief because he was indicted for a crime that does not existattempted wanton murdereven though he was not convicted of that crime. We agree with Hall that a criminal charge requiring proof of attempting to achieve an unintended result is illogical, [6] but we do not believe he is entitled to relief under the facts of this case. Our belief is fortified by the fact Hall failed to raise this issue in the trial court. [7] Clearly, a conviction for a non-existent crime cannot stand. [8] But there appears to be little or no authority concerning whether a defendant who fails to object to an indictment charging an illogical or non-existent crime is entitled to relief when the defendant is not convicted of that charge. Cases from other jurisdictions note that so long as certain indictment defects (such as citations to non-existent statutes or typographical errors), which essentially result in charging a non-existent offense, do not actually mislead or prejudice a defendant, the defendant is not entitled to relief. [9] In the case before us, even though attempted murder is a recognized offense under Kentucky law, we recognize an indictment charging that a defendant attempted to commit an unintentional murder can be described as illogical at best. Nonetheless, even though the offense of attempted wanton murder is illogicalif not totally non-existentwe do not see how Hall was misled by the indictment. For example, he was free to argue he could not attempt to reach an unintentional result; and he does not now contend he was misled from being able to do so. And given the fact he was acquitted of this illogical charge and does not specifically allege how he was hampered in trying to defend himself because of this illogical charge, we do not believe he is entitled to reversal of his convictions for other offenses. The error does not arise to the level of palpable error. [10]