Court Opinion

ID: 9766709
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:57:01.600211+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:25.023890
License: Public Domain

dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from so much of the majority opinion as holds that Earl Oliver cannot be retried.
The Trial Court made a finding that the termination of the trial was “manifestly necessary,” K.R.S. 505.030(4)(b). There is abundant evidence in the “record” of sharp practice and other improprieties which would sustain said finding by the court. Bedrock principles of appellate practice should require us to uphold the findings of the Trial Court, unless the evidence in the record compels us to do otherwise. A recalcitrant court reporter and the “findings” of the Court of Appeals made pursuant to an extraordinary evidentiary “hearing” should not require us to depart from said principles.
I also take respectful issue with an assumption that appears to underlie the opinion in this case, namely, that right to a fair trial is only afforded to the accused in a criminal trial. Not every trial stratagem of defense counsel rises to the level of a constitutional right; our system of justice requires proper and ethical behavior by counsel for the Commonwealth and for the defense. The Commonwealth is entitled to a fair trial also, and it is entitled to a termination of the trial when it is “manifest” that justice is not being served. The record in this case contains pre-trial statements to the effect that the Oliver brothers blazed away with their pistols at a fleeing victim. This Court is telling the people of the Commonwealth that with respect to Earl Oliver, a jury will never be allowed to determine whether he is a cold-blooded murderer. In my view, it is “manifestly necessary” that Earl Oliver be tried for this capital crime.
WINTERSHEIMER, J., and OSCAR GAYLE HOUSE, Special Justice, join in this dissent.