Court Opinion

ID: 9757646
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:51:20.666363+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:41.978215
License: Public Domain

Dissenting opinion by
Justice WINTERSHEIMER.
I must respectfully dissent from the majority opinion because it was not error for the trial judge to deny the giving of an EED instruction, police testimony was properly admitted, as well as evidence of alcohol use, and the admission of prior consistent statements of the victim was not error.
This case has had an interesting journey through the Supreme Court system. Originally, in December 2004, a memorandum opinion of this Court was issued affirming the conviction and sentence. The vote at that time was 4 to 3 with Justice Cooper writing a dissenting opinion. Subsequently, a petition for rehearing was filed by Thomas which focused on Mo issues raised in the dissent, the absence of an EED instruction and the excited utterances of the victims. A petition for rehearing was granted and we are now faced with a majority decision which reverses the conviction as well as the original opinion rendered by this Court.
In my view, the trial judge properly denied the request for an EED instruction. Wheeler v. Commonwealth, 121 S.W.3d 173 (Ky.2003), indicates that there must be some definite and nonspeculative evidence that the onset of the extreme emotional disturbance was caused by a triggering event. There was evidence before the trial judge that Thomas remained in control up to the time of the shooting and that there was no specific triggering event. The trial judge properly determined that Thomas was entitled to self-defense instructions which were given, but not to an EED instruction.
In regard to the prior consistent statements of the two victims, defense counsel at trial conducted a strong legal attack on the credibility of the victims by comparing their trial testimony to their previous statements. When a police detective who had interviewed the two victims was called to testify, he related the statements made by the victims. The contention is that this testimony was inadmissible hearsay. The trial judge after considerable review determined that the statements were admissible as an excited utterance under KRS 803(2). The statements were made by the victims while they were receiving treatment only minutes after having been shot. It has long been held that rulings on the admissibility of evidence by a trial judge will not be disturbed on appellate review in the absence of an abuse of discretion. See *354Commonwealth v. English, 993 S.W.2d 941 (Ky.1999); Jarvis v. Commonwealth, 960 S.W.2d 466 (Ky.1998).
Here, defense counsel was attempting to demonstrate that the victims were fabricating their story to cover one another and that one of the victims had a civil suit pending against Thomas. The testimony by the police detective was responsive and appropriate. The presentation of this information was not in violation of Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). There was no abuse of discretion by the trial judge or any other error in this respect.
The question of evidence of prior alcohol abuse was not properly preserved for appellate review.
I would affirm the conviction in all respects.