Court Opinion

ID: 9677070
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:42:56.876014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:53.613507
License: Public Domain

WINTERSHEIMER, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion because Dean received an essentially fair trial and was not denied any of his rights.
Dean’s right to be present at the deposition was waived by his counsel knowingly and explicitly. Powell v. Commonwealth, Ky., 346 S.W.2d 731 (1961) as cited by the majority is inapposite because in that case it was the defense attorney and not the accused who was absent and it was at the time the verdict was returned to the court. That case turned on the right of the defendant to be present at an essential part of the jury trial. Here the waiver was explicit and made by counsel. I do not believe we should now create a rule that defense counsel cannot waive his client’s presence at a deposition.
The majority seizes upon the legally slender situation presented here to create a new potentially broad rule which is inappropriate.
The right of confrontation relates only to the actual trial. The testimony of a witness from a prior preliminary hearing may be admissible against the defendant provided the confrontation clause is not violated. The presence of the accused is not necessary during preliminary proceedings which do not affect the questions of guilt or innocence. See Harris v. Commonwealth, Ky., 315 S.W.2d 630 (1958); Hoskins v. Commonwealth, 188 Ky. 80, 221 S.W. 230 (1920). Kentucky law has long held that courts must be careful to preserve the rights of a defendant to be present at every stage of the trial beginning with the swearing of the jury and ending with the return of the verdict. A pretrial deposition does not meet that standard.
I also disagree with the analysis by the majority of the wife’s testimonial privilege. It might be that her testimonial privilege was violated at the grand jury proceedings, and this may have constituted a defect in the indictment which may be waived if not timely raised. However, it is not the basis of a reversal. The wife did not refuse to testify at trial. She testified both as a prosecution witness and as a defense witness without asserting her privilege. Such privilege is personal to the witness and is not subject to a motion in limine by the defendant. There is no reason or legal authority which requires the trial judge to admonish the spouse regarding testimonial privilege. Taylor v. Commonwealth, Ky., 413 S.W.2d 614 (1967).
In addition I find the majority opinion’s analysis of the representations by the prosecutor at trial to be unconvincing as to any infringement on the defendant’s right to a fair trial. The prosecutor’s arguments were nothing more than an attempt to persuade the jury that the matter before them should not be dealt with lightly. Lynem v. Commonwealth, Ky., 565 S.W.2d 141 (1978).
Dean received a fundamentally fair trial. There is no perfect proceeding, all that is required is fairness. Michigan v. Tucker, 417 U.S. 433, 94 S.Ct. 2357, 41 L.Ed.2d 182 (1974); McDonald v. Commonwealth, Ky., 554 S.W.2d 84 (1977).
GANT, J., joins in this dissent.