Court Opinion

ID: 9768172
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:45:09.586788+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:37.124566
License: Public Domain

COOPER, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the result reached by the majority, but write separately to express my view on the assertion contained in the majority opinion that the defenses of self-protection and protection of another are not elements of the offense of murder.
Once evidence is introduced which would justify an instruction on self-protection or any other justification defined in KRS chapter 503, the Commonwealth has the burden to disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt, and its absence becomes an element of the offense. KRS 500.070(1), (3), and 1974 Commentary thereto; Brown v. Commonwealth, Ky., 555 S.W.2d 252, 257 (1977). The burden of proof is assigned by including in the murder instruction the element “That he was not privileged to act in self-protection.” See, e.g., Cooper, 1 Kentucky Instructions to Juries (Criminal), § 3.21 (4th ed. Anderson 1993). Although self-protection is not an element of the offense of murder, the absence of self-protection was an element of that offense in this case. Thus, Appellant’s motion for a directed verdict on the grounds that the Commonwealth did not prove every element of the offense was sufficient to preserve the issue. Regardless of whether the issue was preserved, I agree that Appellant was not entitled to a directed verdict on this issue. West v. Commonwealth, Ky., 780 S.W.2d 600 (1989).
STUMBO, J., joins this concurring opinion.