Bush v. Commonwealth

839 S.W.2d 550, 1992 Ky. LEXIS 146, 1992 WL 235404
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 24, 1992
Docket90-SC-716-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 839 S.W.2d 550 (Bush v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Kentucky Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bush v. Commonwealth, 839 S.W.2d 550, 1992 Ky. LEXIS 146, 1992 WL 235404 (Ky. 1992).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

LEIBSON, Justice.

Terry Bush was convicted of wanton murder, four counts of first-degree assault, driving under the influence, and driving on a suspended license. He was sentenced to thirty years on the murder conviction, and lesser penalties on the others to run concurrently.

These convictions resulted from a motor vehicle collision which occurred September 23, 1990, and resulted in killing the driver of the other vehicle, Delbert Wayne Coak-ley, who was a well known figure involved in stock car racing, and injuring Coakley’s wife and the two friends sharing his vehicle, and injuring defendant’s girlfriend, Connie Wilson, who shared appellant’s car.

Appellant was returning with Connie Wilson, now his wife, from a company bus trip to a football game in Louisville. This involved returning by bus to Madisonville, where they picked up the appellant’s car. Admittedly defendant consumed alcohol on the bus. His defense was based principally on his evidence that Connie Wilson, not the appellant, was driving the car. At the beginning of trial Connie Wilson was prepared to be called to the stand by appellant’s counsel and to testify to that effect. Indeed, in support of a pretrial Motion to Dismiss, which the trial court denied, appellant had filed Connie Wilson’s affidavit stating she was driving and stating defendant was the passenger at the time the accident occurred. But, when she was confronted by the police, the prosecutor, and then the trial judge with possibly dire consequences to herself if she testified for the appellant, she refused to testify about this matter.

The case against the appellant consisted largely of a .13% blood alcohol reading and physical evidence at the scene pointing to defendant rather than Connie Wilson as the driver, and of statements police testified Connie Wilson made to them the night of the accident indicating appellant was the driver.

On appeal, the principal reasons offered by the appellant as to why these convictions should be reversed were as follows:

1) Appellant was denied a continuance in the face of prejudicial pretrial newspaper publicity in the major newspaper circulated locally; namely a lead article which appeared on the day of trial, instigated, or at least aided and abetted by the prosecutor, discussing the charges against the appellant at length, condemning DUI and its consequences and calling for severe punishment, and making reference to the recently tried, widely publicized Larry Maho-ney/Carrollton School Bus crash case, discussing the present case in that context.

2) Police and the Commonwealth Attorney, supported by the trial court’s rulings and comments: (á) first, so intimidated Connie Wilson with the threat of perjury charges if she testified she was the driver, and murder prosecution if such testimony resulted in appellant’s acquittal, that she refused to testify; and (b) then, when Connie Wilson “took the Fifth,” used statements she made to police pointing her finger at the appellant as the driver as evidence against appellant, while denying the appellant the use of Connie Wilson’s affidavit admitting she was behind the wheel.

Secondary issues include:

3) Evidence admitted from results of a urinalysis performed on the appellant in the hospital revealing traces of marijuana and amphetamines, as to which the testifying chemist could attribute neither an amount sufficient to cause any impairment nor a time framework relating to the accident.

4) Evidence admitted from a police officer on accident reconstruction, beyond his expertise.

5) Improper remarks in final arguments including: (a) if a hung jury resulted, defendant would walk out of the courtroom; (b) a life sentence means only 12 years to serve; and (c) Connie Wilson’s “taking the [553]*553Fifth" was the appellant’s fault and pointed the finger at him.

6) The jury was improperly permitted to alter its verdict after it had been returned and received.

7) To convict of both murder and assault charges and of the DUI charge which represented the wanton conduct underlying the murder and assault charges was double jeopardy.

We turn first to the two principal trial errors alleged, but in reverse order.

I. CONNIE WILSON’S TESTIMONY

Appellant states that his case hinged on Wilson’s testimony that she was the driver. In his opening statement, appellant told the jury about Wilson’s anticipated testimony. Appellant claims that the police and the Commonwealth, knowing the importance of Wilson’s testimony to the defense, confronted Wilson and told her she could be prosecuted for perjury, and also murder because her own blood alcohol content was .10 at the time of the accident. The trial court then appointed counsel to confer with Wilson about whether she dared to testify, and Wilson then stated to the court her intention to invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege not to testify. Nevertheless, the trial court then permitted the Commonwealth to call Wilson to the stand. She refused on thirteen occasions to testify about any of the facts regarding the incident, but she did say she could not remember making any statements to the police the night of the collision.

The Commonwealth then called two police officers on the pretext it was contradictory evidence as permitted under the Jett doctrine, Jett v. Commonwealth, Ky., 436 S.W.2d 788 (1969). They testified to alleged statements Wilson made to them that she was not the driver of the car. But the trial court did not allow the appellant to refute this evidence with Wilson’s affidavit stating she was the driver.

The Commonwealth argues that appellant was not prejudiced by Wilson being called to testify because the appellant was allowed to cross-examine her and try (unsuccessfully) to illicit information about the collision, and because her medical record wherein she stated that she drove the car had been introduced without objection. The Commonwealth also contends that the prior statements were properly admitted on the basis that she could not remember her statements to the officers on the night of the accident. See Wise v. Commonwealth, Ky.App., 600 S.W.2d 470 (1978).

Commonwealth v. Brown, Ky., 619 S.W.2d 699 (1981) held that the Commonwealth should not be allowed to call a witness to the stand when it is aware the witness will assert the privilege against self-incrimination, because of the adverse inference implied from this refusal to testify. The Brown case also held that a witness who refuses to testify makes no statement which can be considered a foundation to then use a prior inconsistent statement under the Jett doctrine. Brown makes it clear that to admit the witness’ prior statement in these circumstances violates the accused’s Fifth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him.

“[A] person who justifiably claims a privilege against self-incrimination and thereby cannot be forced to testify is unavailable as a witness for the purpose of invoking Jett.” Brown, supra, 619 S.W.2d at 704.

Accordingly, the Commonwealth in this case should not have been permitted to call Wilson to the stand and force her to take the Fifth in front of the jury.

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Bush v. Commonwealth
839 S.W.2d 550 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
839 S.W.2d 550, 1992 Ky. LEXIS 146, 1992 WL 235404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bush-v-commonwealth-ky-1992.