Court Opinion

ID: 9756305
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:22:11.07779+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:19.036163
License: Public Domain

Concurring Opinion by
Justice SCOTT.
Although I concur with the majority, I believe Johnson v. Commonwealth, 90 S.W.3d 39, 44 (Ky.2002) and Commonwealth v. Townsend, 87 S.W.3d 12 (Ky. 2002) support the proposition that a juvenile may impliedly waive provisions of the juvenile code under Kentucky law. I likewise believe it cannot be credibly argued, here, that Appellant’s plea agreement was not entered into voluntarily and with knowledge. Indeed, Appellant made a sensible and strategic decision in accepting the plea. However, I concur with the majority for reasons that our holding establishes a prospective bright line rule that duly informed youthful offenders who enter into a plea agreement with the Commonwealth thereby waive their right to be sentenced under the juvenile code — irrespective of the Class of felonies agreed upon in the plea.
“ ‘A youthful offender, if he is convicted of, or pleads guilty to, a felony offense in Circuit Court, shall be subject to the same type of sentencing procedures and duration of sentence, including probation and conditional discharge, as an adult convicted of a felony offense.’ ” Gourley v. Commonwealth, 37 S.W.3d 792, 794 (Ky.App.2001) (quoting KRS 640.030) (emphasis in original in part and added in part). The plain language of KRS 640.030 indicates that when a juvenile is in circuit court and pleads guilty to any felony, he will be sentenced under the adult provisions.
If Appellant was in all respects treated as an adult under the law, then I fail to see *136why he should be treated otherwise only when it relates to his plea agreement. Cognizant of the very likely potential of substantial imprisonment, Appellant knowingly and intelligently entered into a plea agreement, with the advice of counsel and the agreement of the trial judge, to avoid this risk. Appellant agreed to a twenty year sentence. Therefore, implicit in this agreement is the knowledge that he will be held to this plea.
Thus, although I believe that Appellant did receive the same protections that a similarly situated adult would have been afforded when waiving his or her rights by plea agreement, which is all that is required under KRS 640.030, I join the majority on the basis of its holding, namely that a juvenile may plea bargain with the Commonwealth and waive alternative sentencing dispositions. To hold otherwise would remove the incentive for prosecutors to engage in plea negotiations with minors and thus lead to disproportionately severe sentences, which is a result I simply cannot endorse. KRS 640.030 mandates that a youthful offender who pleads guilty to any felony shall be sentenced under the adult provisions. This conclusion is inescapable. Accordingly, I concur with the majority.
CUNNINGHAM, J., joins this opinion.