Opinion ID: 1490481
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: incorrect testimony during sentencing phase

Text: The Appellant claims that the Commonwealth presented incorrect, or false testimony, during the sentencing phase regarding the application of good time credits on the actual amount of time he would be required to serve and that the error, though not preserved for review, constituted palpable error affecting the Appellant's substantial rights and resulted in manifest injustice as provided for in RCr 10.26. See Schoenbachler v. Commonwealth, 95 S.W.3d 830, 836 (Ky.2003). During the Appellant's sentencing phase, the Commonwealth called Eric Franklin, a probation and parole officer, to testify as to parole eligibility for convicted offenders. He testified that under the parole eligibility guidelines, defendants would have to serve 20% of their sentences before being eligible for parole. He also testified that for each year a prisoner serves he/she is are given three months of statutory good time. Franklin's testimony resulted in the jury being misinformed as to when the statutory good time credits would be applied to reduce a sentence. Franklin told the jury, and the Commonwealth pointed out in its closing argument, incorrectly, that the good time credits would be figured into the defendant's parole eligibility. Although statutory good time is listed in the sentence calculation on a prisoner's resident record card, the prisoner does not actually receive credit for his good time until he reaches the minimum parole eligibility (or, in this case, service of 20% of his sentence). See Martin v. Chandler, 122 S.W.3d 540 (Ky.2003). The use of incorrect, or false, testimony by the prosecution is a violation of due process when the testimony is material. Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 269, 272, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 3 L.Ed.2d 1217 (1959). This is true irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecutor. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 1196-1197, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). When the prosecution knows or should have known that the testimony is false, the test for materiality is whether there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury. United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97, 103, 96 S.Ct. 2392, 2397, 49 L.Ed.2d 342 (1976). The question remains whether the testimony influenced the jury to render a sentence greater than what it might otherwise have given absent the incorrect testimony. We believe it did and, for sure, can't say it didn't. The Commonwealth relied, almost solely, on Franklin's testimony to persuade the jury to recommend the maximum sentence. The jury was given information to consider that was obviously confusing to the very people who deal with it on a daily basis. There is a reasonable likelihood that the jury was influenced by the incorrect testimony.