Opinion ID: 1577692
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 23

Heading: Bush Testimony

Text: Jhonda Bush lived in the apartment next door to Appellant's mother and was home the night that Horton was murdered. As stated previously, Appellant and Minnie Burton were at his mother's apartment several hours before the murder and had gotten into a loud argument. Because Bush was unavailable at Appellant's first trial, she provided a written statement that was read into the record. In it, she stated that she overheard yelling and shouting in the next apartment at about 1:25 on the morning of August 19th. She heard the sound of glass shattering and then the commotion stopped. She did not actually see anyone entering or exiting the apartment next door. During a pretrial hearing at Appellant's second trial, defense counsel moved to introduce Bush's statement from the first trial. The Commonwealth agreed to stipulate to the statement's introduction. Though the trial court requested that defense counsel prepare an order regarding the joint stipulation, none can be found in the record currently before this Court. Nonetheless, the statement was read to the jury absent an objection from either party. Appellant now claims that the introduction of this statement violated his confrontation rights. In support, he asserts that the statement was inadmissible because the Commonwealth made no effort to locate Bush and because Appellant had no opportunity to cross-examine Bush. This argument is without merit, as Appellant waived this constitutional right. [A] criminal defendant may waive the constitutional right to confrontation. Parson v. Commonwealth, 144 S.W.3d 775, 783 (Ky.2004). [N]o doubt the privilege (of personally confronting witnesses) may be lost by consent or at times even by misconduct. Illinois v. Allen, 397 U.S. 337, 342-43, 90 S.Ct. 1057, 1060, 25 L.Ed.2d 353 (1970), quoting Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 106, 54 S.Ct. 330, 332, 78 L.Ed. 674 (1934). [5] Furthermore, contrary to Appellant's assertions, the trial court was not obliged to obtain a personal waiver of his rights: Federal courts have uniformly held that counsel can waive a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right of Confrontation so long as the defendant does not dissent from his attorney's decision, and so long as it can be said that the attorney's decision was a legitimate trial tactic or part of a prudent trial strategy. Parson, 144 S.W.3d at 783 (citations omitted). See also Palfy v. Cardwell, 448 F.2d 328, 332 (6th Cir.1971) (stipulations containing information which established defendant's guilt were properly admitted because defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his right of confrontation). It is evident that Appellant waived his right to confront Bush. It must be emphasized that defense counsel moved the court to introduce Bush's statement during a hearing at which defendant was present. See Parson, 144 S.W.3d at 784 (Appellant was present and did not dissent from the waiver.). Of course, Appellant was also present at trial when the statement was read into the record, again without objection or comment. Furthermore, admission of Bush's statement was clearly a legitimate trial tactic. Bush's brief statement pertained only to the time when she heard a fight in Appellant's mother's apartment; she did not identify the voices she heard or see anyone leaving the apartment. Both the Commonwealth and the defense relied on this statement for the limited purpose of establishing a timeline for the evening. It is reasonable to assume that defense counsel preferred the simple solution of introducing Bush's statement, rather than attempting to locate and subpoena Bush. [6] We conclude that Appellant knowingly waived his right to confront this witness. There was no error.