Opinion ID: 2547964
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Invocation of Unenhanced Penalty for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

Text: Appellant's final argument is that he should be permitted to invoke KRS 218A.500 as amended to eliminate second or subsequent offender enhancement for possession of drug paraphernalia. KRS 218A.500 is the statutory provision that deals with the definitions, offenses, and penalties associated with drug paraphernalia. As amended, subsection (5) of that statute provides that [a]ny person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. The effective date for this statute as amended was April 13, 2010. [21] The trial court instructed the jury to set a sentence for the possession of drug paraphernalia charge in accordance with the laws which were in effect at the time he committed his crime and at the time of his trial. At those times, possession of drug paraphernalia, second or subsequent offense, was a Class D felony, which carried a penalty of one to five years in prison. Citing KRS 446.110, [22] Appellant seeks to invoke KRS 218A.500 as amended, and be sentenced as a Class A misdemeanant. At common law, when the legislature modified or repealed a statute, the courts no longer had the authority to enter any judgment relying upon the prior law. KRS 446.110 modifies this common law rule so that, unless the General Assembly specifically designates otherwise, offenses committed against the statute before its repeal, may thereafter be prosecuted, and the penalties incurred may be enforced. Lawson v. Commonwealth, 53 S.W.3d 534, 550 (Ky.2001). Thus, the trial court did not err in instructing the jury on the pre-amended possession of drug paraphernalia penalties. However, KRS 446.110 also provides an exception: If any penalty, forfeiture or punishment is mitigated by any provision of [a] new law, such provision may, by the consent of the party affected, be applied to any judgment pronounced after the new law takes effect. Accordingly, KRS 446.110 requires that the penalty, forfeiture, or punishment be mitigated by a provision of the new law. The maximum penalty for a Class D felony is five years' imprisonment. KRS 532.060(d). The maximum penalty for a Class A misdemeanor is one year's imprisonment. KRS 532.090(2). Clearly, the asamended version of KRS 218A.500 mitigates the penalty or punishment for a conviction of possession of drug paraphernalia. Moreover, judgment was pronounced after the new law [took] effect. KRS 446.110. Appellant's trial was in March 2010; the amendment to the drug paraphernalia statute took effect on April 13, 2010; and the judgment of sentence (i.e., the final, appealable judgment) occurred on September 8, 2010. [23] Although Appellant did not bring the asamended version of the drug paraphernalia statute to the attention of the trial court, and therefore did not consent to its retroactive application before judgment of sentence, we see no reason not to permit him to request it on remand during the new penalty phase. [24]