Court Opinion

ID: 9777611
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:16:42.259472+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:57.417211
License: Public Domain

JOHNSTONE, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the majority opinion but take issue with the dissenting opinion.
The dissenting opinion advocates, with much emotion, that the Kentucky Legislature has given victims of spouse abuse certain rights which they may assert in defense of assault and other crimes including murder. It is suggested that the majority opinion erodes such protection and essentially “emas-eulatefs] the presumption of innocence.” However, it is unlikely that the Legislature intended to grant victims of spousal abuse the unfettered right to retaliate without consequence.
The dissenting opinion’s assertion that the majority opinion “represents not only an erosion of [the] progress, but a significant and unconstitutional retreat” is unfounded. The dissenting opinion is quick to point out that a defendant is entitled to an instruction on any defense which the evidence tends to establish, whether supported by the defendant’s evidence or the Commonwealth’s. However, in this'ease, the inescapable fact relied upon by the majority is that, despite the overwhelming evidence of spousal abuse on the part of the victim, there was absolutely no evidence of self-defense by Appellant. Appellant’s statements to police indicated that she accidentally shot her husband. Further, Appellant testified at trial that the gun “just went off’ and she did not even realize her husband had been shot until she saw blood. At no point, prior to or during trial, did Appellant ever contend that she intentionally fired the gun in self-defense out of fear for her life. At best, under Appellant’s and the dissenting opinion’s strained interpretation of her statements immediately after the incident, one could reach the conclusion that Appellant intentionally, although not in self-defense, shot her husband.
Whereas a defendant under some circumstances may be entitled to both an instruction on self-defense and accident, the evidence in this case clearly did not support an instruction on self-defense. The dissenting opinion misconstrues the majority opinion in concluding that it stands for the proposition that á defendant must specifically claim to have acted in self-defense. Rather, the majority holds that there must be some evidence introduced to support the instruction. Evidence of the victim’s abuse of Appellant, standing alone, does not satisfy that burden. Indeed, the trial court was correct in finding that the admission of the evidence conveyed to the jury that the “victim deserved to die.”
The right of the people of Kentucky to a jury verdict finding this defendant guilty or not guilty would be utterly denied by the opinion voiced in the dissent. Under the dissent’s analysis, the defendant would walk away without ever having faced a jury verdict notwithstanding the very substantial evidence that she murdered her husband. The rule which would emerge from the dissent is that the Commonwealth must never move for a mistrial for if some appellate court later thinks the trial court got it wrong, regardless of the reasoning which prompted the order of mistrial, retrial would be precluded.
In ruling on the motion for mistrial, the trial judge was in the unique position to serve as a fact finder and assess the factors relevant to the determination of whether a mistrial was indeed appropriate. At this stage of the proceedings, in the absence of a crystal ball, we should not circumvent the well-reasoned judgment call of the trial judge in granting a mistrial. It is evident from the opinion and order that the judge exercised sound discretion in reaching such decision.
While the dissent paints the majority opinion as discarding “oft-cited and highly respected precedent,” it completely ignores the fact that the trial judge and a unanimous panel of the Kentucky Court of Appeals *229reached the same conclusion as the majority of this Court. Appellant will have her day in court during which she can present her defenses in an appropriate manner. At that stage, it is up to the jury to pick and choose which parts of her statements to believe. Although it is easy to sympathize with Appellant’s situation, our system dictates that the Commonwealth has the same right to a fair trial as does a defendant. Clearly, this did not occur in the original proceedings and retrial is necessary.
GRAVES and LAMBERT, JJ., join this concurring opinion.