John W. Ault v. Commonwealth

Opinion

RENDERED: MARCH 27, 2026; 10:00 A.M.

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Commonwealth of Kentucky

Court of Appeals

NO. 2024-CA-0678-MR

JOHN W. AULT APPELLANT

APPEAL FROM LINCOLN CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE TERESA WHITAKER, JUDGE ACTION NOS. 19-CR-00094 AND 20-CR-00001

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE

OPINION

DISMISSING

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BEFORE: CALDWELL, MCNEILL, AND MOYNAHAN, JUDGES. MCNEILL, JUDGE: John W. Ault (Ault) appeals from the Lincoln Circuit Court’s denial of his Motion for Leave to File an Amended RCr1 11.42 Motion to Vacate and Addendum to Motion to Vacate. Because Ault has served his sentence, his

1 Kentucky Rules of Criminal Procedure.

challenge to the denial of his RCr 11.42 motion is moot. Accordingly, this appeal is hereby dismissed.

BACKGROUND

Ault text messaged a 12-year-old girl attempting to induce her to engage in sexual activity. When she revealed this information to her father, he contacted local law enforcement officials. With the father’s consent, a Deputy Sherriff took possession of the girl’s phone and continued the conversation with Ault through text messages. The deputy, posing as the daughter, told Ault that she was 12 years old. After additional correspondence the deputy and Ault arranged a meeting. When he showed up to meet her, he was arrested.

A search of his phone revealed images of minors portraying a sexual performance. Ault was indicted on September 30, 2019, on one count of unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual activities. He was subsequently charged with possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor.

On January 10, 2020, Ault pleaded guilty to both charges. The Commonwealth recommended a sentence of one year on each offense to be served consecutively for a total of two years. Ault was formally sentenced on March 13, 2020. He filed a motion for shock probation in April 2020, which was denied. Ault was released from prison on October 3, 2021. Ault subsequently filed an RCr

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11.42 motion to vacate his Lincoln County convictions. Therein, he alleged ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC), claiming that his trial counsel was deficient in not pursuing an entrapment defense and coercing him to enter a guilty plea. His RCr 11.42 motion was denied in an order entered on March 31, 2023.

ANALYSIS

After the trial court denied Ault’s original RCr 11.42 motion to vacate his sentence, he filed a motion to amend his RCr 11.42 motion, which was also denied. Ault now appeals from the order denying his motion to amend, but not the order denying his original motion to vacate. Thus, the Commonwealth argues that we should not address issues concerning the original RCr 11.42 motion. Indeed, we need not address the merits of that original motion, or the motion to amend. The Kentucky Supreme Court has definitively held that relief under RCr 11.42 is unavailable to a movant who has completed his sentence. Parrish v. Commonwealth, 283 S.W.3d 675, 677 (Ky. 2009). See also, e.g., Wyatt v. Commonwealth, No. 2020-CA-0564-MR, 2021 WL 5141908, at *2 (Ky. App. Nov. 5, 2021) (“because Wyatt has served out his sentence, he cannot claim relief via RCr 11.42”). The record in the present case contains a “Kentucky Department of Corrections Release Notification” indicating that Ault was released from incarceration for the crimes he committed in this case on October 3, 2021.

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CONCLUSION

Because service of Ault’s sentence has rendered moot his challenge to the denial of RCr 11.42 relief, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.

ALL CONCUR.

BRIEFS FOR APPELLANT: BRIEF FOR APPELLEE:

John W. Ault, pro se Russell Coleman La Grange, Kentucky Attorney General of Kentucky

Joseph A. Beckett

Assistant Attorney General Frankfort, Kentucky