Jt Higgins v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

Court of Appeals of Kentucky·Decided July 18, 2025·No. 2023-CA-1327·Published

Opinion

RENDERED: JULY 18, 2025; 10:00 A.M.

TO BE PUBLISHED

Commonwealth of Kentucky

Court of Appeals

NO. 2023-CA-1327-MR

JT HIGGINS APPELLANT

APPEAL FROM HENDERSON CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE KAREN LYNN WILSON, JUDGE ACTION NO. 16-CR-00060

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE

OPINION

REVERSING AND REMANDING

** ** ** ** **

BEFORE: CALDWELL, EASTON, AND L. JONES, JUDGES. CALDWELL, JUDGE: JT Higgins (“Higgins”) appeals from the Henderson Circuit Court’s denial of his CR1 60.02 motion to vacate, correct, or amend sentence. After entering a guilty plea and being sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, Higgins filed a motion for shock probation and was placed on probation for seven years via agreed order. After he had served over five of those

1 Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure.

seven probationary years, his probation was revoked. Higgins contends the Henderson Circuit Court lacked jurisdiction to revoke his probation, citing KRS2 533.020(4) which states the period of probation “shall not exceed five (5) years, or the time necessary to complete restitution, whichever is longer, upon conviction of a felony[.]” Despite the Commonwealth’s argument (Higgins waived the statutory five-year limit on probation by agreeing to a seven-year period of probation), we conclude the Henderson Circuit Court lacked authority to impose or enforce the seven-year probationary period and abused its discretion in denying Higgins’ CR 60.02 motion. We reverse the denial of Higgins’ CR 60.02 motion and remand with directions to vacate the revocation of Higgins’ probation.

FACTS

Higgins has admitted to being involved in a December 2015 robbery in Henderson County. He was indicted for complicity to first-degree robbery. He was represented by counsel in the proceeding on the robbery charges before the Henderson Circuit Court (“the trial court”).3

2 Kentucky Revised Statutes.

3 The appellant brief alludes to Higgins’ having also been involved in another robbery in Hopkins County which took place the same day as the Henderson County robbery. The appellant brief states Higgins also received shock probation from the Hopkins Circuit Court in October 2016. However, this appeal is only from the Henderson Circuit Court’s denial of Higgins’ CR 60.02 motion and not from any court action in Hopkins County. Moreover, the record on appeal for this case does not contain the complete court record for any court action in Hopkins County.

Higgins accepted the Commonwealth’s offer to amend the charges to complicity to second-degree robbery upon a plea of guilty. The trial court found his guilty plea to be voluntary, adjudged him guilty of complicity to second-degree robbery, and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment in August 2016. Higgins did not appeal from the judgment of conviction and sentence.

In October 2016, Higgins filed a motion for shock probation. The trial court granted his motion and entered an order suspending further execution of sentence. This order placed Higgins on probation for seven years, commencing on the date of the order’s entry. Both the Commonwealth’s attorney and Higgins’ counsel signed this order with a notation they had seen and agreed to the order. Higgins did not appeal from this order (“the shock probation order”) which placed him on probation for seven years.

In March 2022, Higgins’ probation officer filed an affidavit with the trial court stating Higgins had recently been arrested in Hopkins County and charged with offenses including careless driving, trafficking in marijuana and methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The probation officer requested Higgins’ probation be revoked due to his committing another offense. Higgins was represented by counsel in the probation revocation proceedings before the trial court.

Following a hearing, the trial court found Higgins violated his probation by committing a new offense. It revoked his probation in an order entered September 1, 2022. Higgins did not appeal from the revocation.

In October 2023, Higgins filed a pro se CR 60.02 motion to vacate, correct, or amend his sentence.

Higgins argued the trial court had lost jurisdiction prior to its revoking his shock probation in the latter part of 2022. He asserted shock probation (imposed pursuant to KRS 439.265) is a type of probation subject to the requirements of KRS 533.020(4). He pointed out KRS 533.020(4) provides a court may impose a period of probation – generally not to exceed five years4 – upon a felony conviction. Higgins contended the seven years’ probation he received was thus an illegal sentence and the trial court’s judgment was void. He asserted the trial court could not validly revoke his probation more than five years after placing him on probation.

The trial court entered an order denying Higgins’ CR 60.02 motion in October 2023. The trial court took note of precedent indicating a defendant could waive the statutory maximum period of probation in its order. See Commonwealth

4 KRS 533.020(4) states: “Such period [of probation], with extensions thereof, shall not exceed five (5) years, or the time necessary to complete restitution, whichever is longer, upon conviction of a felony[.]”) (emphasis added). No issues about restitution were raised by the parties to the trial court or to this Court. Moreover, no extension of the initially imposed probation period was ever sought or granted based on our review of the record.

v. Wright, 415 S.W.3d 606, 611 n.3 (Ky. 2013) (citing Commonwealth v. Griffin, 942 S.W.2d 289, 291 (Ky. 1997)) (“[E]ven without a finding of necessity, a probationer may knowingly and voluntarily agree to an extension of probation beyond five years, for example to avoid revocation of probation.”). The trial court determined that Higgins waived the statutory maximum period of probation by agreeing to a probationary period exceeding the statutory limit.5 Thus, the trial court concluded Higgins was not entitled to extraordinary relief under CR 60.02.

Higgins filed a timely appeal from the denial of his CR 60.02 motion and the trial court granted his motion for appointed counsel on appeal. Higgins argues on appeal that the trial court illegally sentenced him to a seven-year term of shock probation and abused its discretion in denying his CR 60.02 motion.6 In response, the Commonwealth contends the trial court properly denied the CR 60.02 motion because Higgins agreed to the seven-year term of probation. It also asserts Higgins failed to properly preserve the alleged error in being placed on seven years’ probation because he did not appeal from the shock probation order or the order revoking his shock probation and he did not file a

5 The trial court’s order denying CR 60.02 relief did not discuss whether there was any difference between an agreement to an initial imposition of probation exceeding five years and an agreement to waive the statutory five-year limit on probation by requesting an extension of a probationary period initially set within the statutory limit. 6 Higgins also requested an evidentiary hearing and appointment of counsel in the trial court CR 60.02 proceedings. The trial court denied both these requests. However, Higgins did not allege any error in the trial court’s denial of these two requests in his briefs to this Court.

RCr7 11.42 motion prior to seeking relief under CR 60.02. Moreover, the Commonwealth contends Higgins failed to file the CR 60.02 motion within a reasonable time.

ANALYSIS

Preservation and Procedural Concerns Before we address the merits of the trial court’s decision, we must consider the Commonwealth’s assertion that the alleged illegality of the seven-year term of probation was not properly preserved for review – based on the lack of timely appeal from the orders imposing or revoking probation and the lack of prior RCr 11.42 motion.

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