Court Opinion

ID: 9775420
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:58:05.27754+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:26.013428
License: Public Domain

WINTERSHEIMER, Justice,
concurring in part, dissenting in part.
I concur with so much of the majority opinion that affirms the judgment of guilt of the crimes of complicity to murder and complicity to arson. I dissent from that part of the majority opinion which reverses for alleged sentencing errors in the penalty phase.
Any consideration on appeal of alleged prosecutorial misconduct must focus on the *172overall fairness of the entire trial. Dean v. Commonwealth, Ky., 844 S.W.2d 417 (1993); Slaughter v. Commonwealth, Ky., 744 S.W.2d 407 (1987). The most damaging meaning must not be given to an ambiguous remark. United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 105 S.Ct. 1038, 84 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985); Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, 416 U.S. 637, 94 S.Ct. 1868, 40 L.Ed.2d 431 (1974). Attorneys are given wide latitude during opening statement and closing argument. Lynem v. Commonwealth, Ky., 565 S.W.2d 141 (1978). In order to justify reversal, the misconduct of the prosecutor must be so serious as to render the entire trial fundamentally unfair. Summitt v. Bordenkircher, 608 F.2d 247 (6th Cir.1979). The comments by the prosecutor in this case were not so pervasive or prejudicial as to deny the defendant due process of law. Consequently, reversal is not required.
An exhaustive review of the voluminous material involved in this appeal indicates that the conduct of the prosecutor in the guilt or penalty phases of the proceeding did not deprive Perdue of a fundamentally fair trial. The comments of the prosecutor throughout the entire trial, albeit harsh, were based on the evidence presented at trial. When the trial judge was requested to do so by the defense, an admonition to the jury to disregard any improper comments was given. Such an admonition to disregard improper statements is ordinarily sufficient to cure any improper comments. See Greer v. Miller, 483 U.S. 756, 107 S.Ct. 3102, 97 L.Ed.2d 618 (1987); Alexander v. Commonwealth, Ky., 862 S.W.2d 856, 858 (1993). Not every improper argument by a prosecutor is sufficient to require a new trial or establish a due process violation. Donnelly v. DeChristoforo, supra. The United States Supreme Court has indicated that it is “the duty of a reviewing court to consider the trial record as a whole and to ignore errors that are harmless, including most constitutional violations.” United States v. Hasting, 461 U.S. 499, 103 S.Ct. 1974, 76 L.Ed.2d 96 (1983).
There were no objections to the closing of the prosecutor during either the guilt or penalty phases of the proceedings. During the penalty phase of the trial, the Commonwealth introduced evidence that Perdue had previously been convicted of four counts of second-degree manslaughter pursuant to a plea of guilty. The trial judge properly admonished the jury that the fact that the charges were amended downward from murder was not to be considered by them because there was apparently no evidence to sustain a murder conviction. The prosecutor had sufficient latitude to ask the defendant questions during the penalty phase because the jury had already found Perdue guilty and the questions propounded were not sufficient to erode the reliability of the jury verdict.
The transcript of the tape recorded statement between Perdue and Cynthia Moore indicates that when she asked him how to bum a car, he informed her “there is a million ways to do that.” Perdue was charged with murder by arson of a motor vehicle and with arson of a motor vehicle. Under the circumstances, the prosecutor was entitled to question the defendant regarding his knowledge of how to burn a vehicle. I do not believe such a question could be the basis for a reversal.
I can accept much of the rationale of the majority opinion in regard to its analysis of double jeopardy in this case. The majority correctly observes that the act of burning resulting in the destruction of the automobile and the murder of an individual clearly satisfies even the relaxed standard of double jeopardy as promulgated in Ingram v. Commonwealth, Ky., 801 S.W.2d 321 (1990).
It has long been held in Kentucky that there can be different parts of a continuing criminal transaction which are separate offenses and may be separately prosecuted. The concept that a single criminal action cannot be split into separate offenses is not necessarily applicable if different parts of a continuous criminal transaction or a series of acts are separate offenses and can be separately proved. Newton v. Commonwealth, 198 Ky. 707, 249 S.W. 1017 (1923). I believe Kentucky should return to the reasoning of Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932) and the standard set out in Wilson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 695 S.W.2d 854 (1985) and Polk v. Commonwealth, Ky., 679 S.W.2d 231 (1984). See my dissent in Ingram.
*173I believe the judgment of conviction should be affirmed in all respects.
FUQUA, J., joins in this dissent.