Lawton v. Commonwealth

354 S.W.3d 565, 2011 Ky. LEXIS 155, 2011 WL 5248309
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 27, 2011
DocketNo. 2010-SC-000206-DG
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 354 S.W.3d 565 (Lawton 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
Lawton v. Commonwealth, 354 S.W.3d 565, 2011 Ky. LEXIS 155, 2011 WL 5248309 (Ky. 2011).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court

by Justice NOBLE.

Appellant, Jeremy D. Lawton, was convicted of escape in the second degree and of being a persistent felony offender in the second degree (PFO II). He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. The Court of Appeals affirmed his convictions, and he appeals from that decision. The issues on appeal are (1) whether Appellant was entitled to a directed verdict on the charge of second-degree escape, (2) whether the instruction for second-degree escape was flawed and constitutes palpable error, and (3) whether the evidence presented supported an instruction for third-degree escape. The Court of Appeals is affirmed on the issues of the motion for directed verdict and the instruction for third-degree escape, but the instruction for second-degree escape constitutes palpable error. This case is therefore reversed and remanded for a new trial.

I. Background

In November 2006, Appellant began serving a twelve-month sentence in the [567]*567Fayette County Detention Center (FCDC) for criminal possession of a forged instrument in the third degree, a misdemeanor. In July 2007, the trial court modified its order of incarceration, releasing Appellant from the FCDC and ordering him to participate in the Home Incarceration Program (HIP) so that he could care for his mother, who was in poor health.

As a condition of his home incarceration, the trial court required Appellant to wear an ankle bracelet and prohibited him from leaving his mother’s home without permission of his caseworker. Appellant was not given work release, but was allowed to take his mother to doctor’s appointments. Otherwise, he was to remain in her home at all times. The ankle bracelet contained an electronic transmitter, which, when broken, sends a signal to the home monitoring unit, which then “communicates” with the Community Corrections Monitoring Center.

On the evening of August 21, 2007, Appellant’s caseworker received an alert that the transmitter band on Appellant’s ankle bracelet was open. The next day, the caseworker went to Appellant’s mother’s home and retrieved the bracelet, but was unable to locate Appellant. Appellant remained at large for several weeks until the police successfully executed a warrant for his arrest on October 2, 2007. During those weeks, Appellant claimed he worked at a screen printing shop and taught dance lessons to earn money, which he used to pay his mother’s medical bills and to pay child support.

Following a trial by jury, Appellant was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, enhanced to six when he was found guilty of PFO II. Appellant appealed to the Court of Appeals, which considered this a case of first impression. The Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of the trial court, finding that Appellant had escaped from a detention facility under KRS 520.030.

There is no dispute about the underlying facts. Appellant agrees that he “escaped” from home incarceration, but he argues that he should have been charged with third-degree escape rather than second-degree escape.

II. Analysis

A. Relevant Statutes

This case is about statutory interpretation, thus a brief summary of the relevant statutes is pertinent.

Second-degree escape is defined as follows: “A person is guilty of escape in the second degree when he escapes from a detention facility or, being charged with or convicted of a felony, he escapes from custody.” KRS 520.030(1). By its plain language, second-degree escape may be charged when a defendant is in a detention facility and escapes the facility, or when charged -with or convicted of a felony he escapes any other kind of custody. Third-degree escape is defined as follows: “A person is guilty of escape in the third degree when he escapes from custody.” KRS 520.040(1). The plain language of this statute encompasses any escape if he is being held in any kind of custody. Based on the facts, the prosecutor has a certain amount of discretion in how he or she charges the escape.

“Escape” is defined as “departure from custody or the detention facility in which a person is held or detained when the departure is unpermitted, or failure to return to custody or detention following a temporary leave granted for a specific purpose or for a limited period.” KRS 520.010(5). Thus, a person may “escape” either by leaving custody or a detention facility without permission, or by failing to return to custody [568]*568or a detention facility after a temporary leave.

“Detention facility” is defined in relevant part as “any building and its premises used for the confinement of a person ... [cjharged with or convicted of an offense.” KRS 520.010(4).

As Appellant points out, several different theories have been advanced by the Commonwealth, the trial court, and the Court of Appeals about how the second-degree escape statute applies to this case. The first theory, set out in the indictment, the jury instructions, and the Court of Appeals’ opinion, is that Appellant committed second-degree escape by escaping from the custody of the Fayette County Detention Center (FCDC). The second theory, set out by the Commonwealth in its brief, is that Appellant committed second-degree escape by escaping from his mother’s home, which was a detention facility under the terms of Appellant’s HIP agreement. The third theory, also set out in the Commonwealth’s brief, is that Appellant committed second-degree escape by escaping from the FCDC’s custody while being a convicted felon, based on Appellant’s felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance in November 2003. These various theories will be addressed throughout the following discussion.

B. Trial Court Properly Denied Motion for a Directed Verdict of Acquittal

Appellant moved for a directed verdict of acquittal on the charge of second-degree escape at the conclusion of the Commonwealth’s case and again at the close of the evidence. On appellate review, this Court reviews the trial court’s rulings on motions for a directed verdict as follows: “If under the evidence as a whole it would not be clearly unreasonable for a jury to find the defendant guilty, he is not entitled to a directed verdict of acquittal.” Commonwealth v. Sawhill, 660 S.W.2d 3, 5 (Ky.1983) (quoting Trowel v. Commonwealth, 550 S.W.2d 530, 533 (Ky.1977)).

The trial court properly denied Appellant’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal because it would not be clearly unreasonable for a jury to find Appellant guilty under the Commonwealth’s evidence and its theory that Appellant escaped from his mother’s home, which was a detention facility under his HIP agreement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
354 S.W.3d 565, 2011 Ky. LEXIS 155, 2011 WL 5248309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawton-v-commonwealth-ky-2011.