Jackson v. Commonwealth

481 S.W.3d 794, 2016 Ky. LEXIS 10, 2016 WL 671152
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 18, 2016
Docket2014-SC-000612-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 481 S.W.3d 794 (Jackson 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
Jackson v. Commonwealth, 481 S.W.3d 794, 2016 Ky. LEXIS 10, 2016 WL 671152 (Ky. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

JUSTICE, VENTERS

Appellant, Darrell Jackson, was tried in the Jefferson Circuit Court for the murder of Michael Chester. The jury acquitted Mm on the murder charge but convicted him. of first-degree manslaughter; a sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment was imposed. On appeal as a matter of right, Jackson-presents three arguments for reversal- of his conviction. We affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The facts relevant to this appeal are not contested. Appellant on several occasions sold heroin to Michael Chester and his wife, Ashley., Based upon their ongoing commercial relationship, Appellant agreed to “front” heroin to Chester, meaning that he would supply Chester with a quantity of heroin and then collect the cash payment at a later time.

When notified that Chester was, ready to pay, Appellant went to Chester’s apartment to collect payment for a recently delivered quantity of heroin. After Chester tendered only partial payment on his ac[796]*796count, an argument began and a physical altercation ensued. From 'an adjoining room, Ashley heard Appellant and Chester quarrelling about money. She heard scuffling sounds she described as “wrestling around” and “smacking.” When she heard a gunshot, she ran into the room and saw Chester lying" on the floor with Appellant standing over him, his right hand in his coat pocket. She also saw a box cutter tool that Chester carried to work lying on the floor nearby. Appellant fled immediately but was arrested a short time later.

Appellant testified that when he rejected Chester’s partial payment and demanded payment in full, Chester grabbed him, shoved him to the floor, and then came at him with what Appellant believed to be a pocket knife. Appellant testified that in order to protect himself, he reached for the gun in his coat pocket and intentionally shot Chester. Appellant said that he then panicked and left the scene..

Although the trial court instructed the jury upon the theory of self-defense, it declined Appellant’s request for an additional instruction on. the “no duty to retreat” qualification of self-defense codified in KRS 503.055(3). The jury rejected Appellant’s self-defense claim and found him guilty of first-degree manslaughter. The jury recommended the maximum sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment and judgment was entered accordingly.

Appellant raises three issues on" appeal: 1)' that the trial court erred by failing to "give the “no duty to retreat” instruction; 2) that the trial court erred during the penalty phase of the trial by permitting the Commonwealth to present evidence of Appellant’s juvenile court adjudication for robbery; and 3)> that although KRS 532.055(2)(a)6 authorized the admission of his juvenile court record, the trial court erred by doing so because the statute is an unconstitutional’ encroachment1 upon the prerogátives "of the judiciary. He now'asserts that this Court’s well-established tolerance of the statute under principles of comity shoúld be withdrawn. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court.

ir. Analysis

A. Appellant was not entitled to a “no duty to retreat” jury instruction.

Relying upon KRS 503.055(3)1 and this Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Hasch, ,421 S.W.3d 349 (Ky.2013), Appellant requested the trial court to instruct the jury upon the “no duty to retreat” doctrine. The jury instruction approved in Hasch provides:

You.are, further instructed that if [the defendant] was not engaged in unlawful activity and was in a place where she had a right to be, then she had no duty to retreat from [the “victim”] and had the right to stand her ground and meet force.with force, including deadly physical force, if she reasonably believed it was. necessary to prevent death .or serious bodily harm to herself.

Id. at 355. Our express approval of this instruction is stated in Hasch. Id. at 364.2

[797]*797The trial court rejected the proffered instruction, reasoning that it was not warranted in this case because Appellant was not “in a place he ha[d] the right to be” at the time of the shooting. We do not adopt the rationale employed by the trial court but we agree with its, conclusion that the evidence, did not justify the f proposed instruction. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s decision on .slightly different grounds.

As stated in KRS 503.065(3), the “right to stand [one’s] ground and meet force with force” is available only to one “who is not engaged in an unlawful activity” at the time. Because the undisputed evidence established that Appellant was not engaged in lawful activity, he was not entitled to the “no duty to retreat” instructiqn.

Generally, a trial court is obligated to “instruct the jury upon every theory reasonably supported by the- evidence. ‘Each party to an action is entitled to an instruction upon his theory of the ease if there is evidence to sustain it.’ ” Sargent v. Shaffer, 467 S.W.3d 198, 203 (Ky.2015) (citation omitted). Claims that a trial court erred by failing to give a requested instruction are reviewed on appeal for abuse of discretion.3 Id. This deference to the1 trial court’s discretion arises from our recognition that the trial court has a “superior view” of the evidence and is better situated to assess its nuances. Id. “[I]n evaluating the [trial court’s] refusal to give an instruction we must ask ourselves, construing the evidence favorably to the proponent , of the instruction, whether the evidence would permit a reasonable juror to make the finding the instruction authorizes.” Springfield v. Commonwealth, 410 S.W.3d 589, 594 (Ky.2013).

In this cáse, our use of these standards of review is simplified because the pertinent facts are' not in dispute. ' Appellant acknowledges that at the time of the shooting, he was in Chester’s apartment at Chester’s invitation to collect Chester’s payment of money for a previously fronted quantity of heroin. Appellant contends that as an invitee he-had a right to be on the premises and that his activity on the premises—collecting money owed to him— was not an “unlawful activity.”1 Therefore, he argues, the “no duty to retreat” instruction was required under Hasck While there is no factual dispute about what Appellant was doing, there is disagreement about whether his activity was lawful; That question is purely an issue of law. We conclude that while Appellant may have had Chester’s permission to be on the premises, his activity at the time of the shooting was illegal.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
481 S.W.3d 794, 2016 Ky. LEXIS 10, 2016 WL 671152, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-commonwealth-ky-2016.