Greene v. Commonwealth

197 S.W.3d 76, 2006 Ky. LEXIS 140, 2006 WL 1358366
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedMay 18, 2006
Docket2004-SC-000046-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 197 S.W.3d 76 (Greene 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
Greene v. Commonwealth, 197 S.W.3d 76, 2006 Ky. LEXIS 140, 2006 WL 1358366 (Ky. 2006).

Opinions

Opinion of the Court by

Justice SCOTT.

I. Introduction

Appellant Dennis Greene was tried and convicted by a Kenton County Jury in November 2003 for the murder of his wife, Tara Greene. He was sentenced to life in prison and now appeals to this court as a matter of right, Ky. Const. § 110(2)(b), asserting six claims of error, viz: (1) the evidence was insufficient to prove he was not acting under an extreme emotional disturbance (EED); (2) the trial court allowed a minor not covered by KRS 421.350 to testify from outside the courtroom via closed circuit television; (3) the trial court failed to inquire into whether the minor’s testimony was the product of personal observation, rather than coaching by adults; (4) the trial court admitted gruesome crime scene photographs; (5) the trial court admitted portions of a “hip hop” video depicting defendant rapping about his wife’s death with friends after the offense; and (6) the trial court admitted unduly prejudicial testimony about defendant’s past affair.

For reasons set out herein, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

II. Factual Background

Medical testimony established Appellant killed his wife by cutting “her throat from ear to ear, so deeply that it scraped the spine.” On the day of her death, he left work early to go home. Before leaving, he told a friend, “I’m going to do it. I’m going to kill her.”

Upon arriving home, they began to argue. During the argument she told him she had been unfaithful with four different men.

[80]*80After dinner, she and their son, C.G., went to his bedroom to watch TV. While there, Appellant contends he heard his son yelp in pain. Appellant went to the bedroom to check on C.G. Tara then left the bedroom and went to the kitchen.

Appellant claims C.G. then showed him a red mark on his shoulder. Appellant lit a marijuana cigarette and went to the kitchen to confront Tara. She took the cigarette, he grabbed at it, and it fell down her shirt. She then hit Appellant. He grabbed her and put her in a chokehold. C.G. then walked in, but was sent back to his room. Appellant then reached behind him, grabbed a turkey knife, and “cut her throat.”

He then dropped her to the floor and covered her with a blanket. He changed his pants and shoes, put a jacket on over his bloody shirt, and took C.G. to his mother’s house. He then left for Chicago, where he claims he planned to kill himself. During the trip, he made several calls, most to his friends in Chicago, but several were made to a former lover, Amy Baum-gardener, who joined him in Chicago. Upon her arrival, Appellant was making a series of rap videotapes with his friends, several of which reflected on his thoughts and actions related to Tara’s death.

Tara’s body was found by the police who quickly suspected Appellant. They learned Appellant was at a friend’s house in Chicago. On May 8th, the building Appellant was in was surrounded. He was later talked out by the Chicago Police.

III. ANAYLSIS

A. EXTREME EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

Appellant first argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove that Appellant was not acting under an extreme emotional disturbance at the time of his wife’s death.

In this regard we noted in Holland v. Commonwealth, 114 S.W.3d 792, 805 (Ky.2003)(quoting Coffey v. Messer, 945 S.W.2d 944, 946 (Ky.1997)), that “once evidence was produced to prove the existence of EED, ‘its absence be[came] an element of the offense.’ ” Moreover, KRS 500.070 establishes that the Commonwealth has the burden of proving every element of the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Here, the essential elements are set out in KRS 507.020 (murder) and KRS 507.030 (manslaughter).

In regard to how EED fits into this statutory pattern, our prior decisions have established that

A person is guilty of murder under KRS 507.020(l)(a) if he/she intentionally causes the death of another, “except that in any prosecution a person shall not be guilty under this subsection if he acted under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance for which there was a reasonable explanation or excuse, the reasonableness of which is to be determined from the viewpoint of a person in the defendant’s situation under the circumstances as the defendant believed them to be.” A person is guilty of manslaughter in the first degree under KRS 507.030(l)(b) if he/she intentionally causes the death of another “under circumstances which do not constitute murder because he acts under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance, as defined in subsection (l)(a) of KRS 507.020.”

Fields v. Commonwealth, 44 S.W.3d 355, 356-57 (Ky.2001) (quoting McClellan v. Commonwealth, 715 S.W.2d 464 (Ky. 1986)).

Thus, the same act, or series of acts, may be murder or manslaughter in the first degree depending on a finding of [81]*81EED. Admittedly, there have been some inconsistencies in our prior decisions concerning which party is properly encumbered with the burden of proof. However, our more recent opinions have categorized EED, or more properly, the absence of it, as an element of the substantive offense, rather than as a defense. See Holland v. Commonwealth, 114 S.W.3d 792 (Ky.2003); Stopher v. Commonwealth, 57 S.W.3d 787 (Ky.2001); Springer v. Commonwealth, 998 S.W.2d 439 (Ky.1999); Cecil v. Commonwealth, 888 S.W.2d 669 (Ky.1994); Morgan v. Commonwealth, 878 S.W.2d 18 (Ky.1994); Holbrook v. Commonwealth, 813 S.W.2d 811 (Ky.1991) overruled on other grounds by Elliott v. Commonwealth, 976 S.W.2d 416 (Ky.1998); Gall v. Commonwealth, 607 S.W.2d 97 (Ky.1980) overruled on other grounds by Payne v. Commonwealth, 623 S.W.2d 867(Ky.l981).

Justice Cooper, in his Kentucky Instructions to Juries (Criminal) § 3.21, (1999) includes the absence of EED as an element of the crime of murder. Yet, in his comment to Section 3.21, he notes that this inclusion is controlled by the evidence presented. Id.

In Spears v. Commonwealth, 30 S.W.3d 152

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Bluebook (online)
197 S.W.3d 76, 2006 Ky. LEXIS 140, 2006 WL 1358366, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greene-v-commonwealth-ky-2006.