Court Opinion

ID: 9783735
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 20:05:09.938936+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:35:34.265812
License: Public Domain

CUNNINGHAM, J.,
Concurring in Part and Dissenting in Part.
I respectfully concur in part and dissent in part. The giving of identical instructions is not palpable error where there is sufficient evidence to convict a defendant on all of the identical instructions and the jury does, in fact, convict.
That is precisely the situation we have here. The Miller case cited by the majority does not stand for the proposition that identical instructions are always palpable error. In fact, in Miller we refuse to go that far. In that case, the jury did not find the defendant guilty on all of the identical instructions and, therefore, we do not know which particular offenses were unanimously agreed upon. However, we are careful in Miller to state: “Yet, that is not to say that every error in jury instructions rises to the level of palpable error.” 283 S.W.3d at 696.
I rely primarily on Bell v. Commonwealth, 245 S.W.3d 738 (Ky.2008). In that case this Court, in a unanimous decision, held: “Because the jury ultimately found Bell guilty of all five counts of sexual abuse, it can be rationally and fairly deduced that each juror believed Bell was guilty of the five distinct incidents identified by the Commonwealth.” Id. at 744.
The primary rationale of the unanimity rule of both Miller and Bell is that identical instructions can remove the ability to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal. That is not a concern when a jury convicts on all counts. In those instances, there is still a rational basis of appeal.
Nine identical instructions were given here on the various mini-storage burglaries, and the Appellant was convicted on all counts. Therefore, no palpable error occurred. I dissent as to the reversal of the burglary counts and concur in all other parts of the opinion.
SCOTT, J., joins.