Michael Ray Dungan v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

Kentucky Supreme Court·Decided November 29, 2017·No. 2016 SC 000358·Unknown

Opinion

IMPORTANT NOTICE NOT TO BE PUBLISHED OPINION

THIS OPINION IS DESIGNATED "NOT TO BE PUBLISHED." PURSUANT TO THE RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE PROMULGATED BY THE SUPREME COURT, CR 76.28(4)(C), THIS OPINION IS NOT TO BE PUBLISHED AND SHALL NOT BE CITED OR USED AS BINDING PRECEDENT IN ANY OTHER CASE IN ANY COURT OF THIS STATE; HOWEVER, UNPUBLISHED KENTUCKY APPELLATE DECISIONS, RENDERED AFTER JANUARY 1, 2003, MAY BE CITED FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT IF THERE IS NO PUBLISHED OPINION THAT WOULD ADEQUATELY ADDRESS THE ISSUE BEFORE THE COURT. OPINIONS CITED FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT SHALL BE SET OUT AS AN UNPUBLISHED DECISION IN THE FILED DOCUMENT AND A COPY OF THE ENTIRE DECISION SHALL BE TENDERED ALONG WITH THE DOCUMENT TO THE COURT AND ALL PARTIES TO THE ACTION.

RENDERED: NOVEMBER 2, 2017 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

2016-SC-000358-MR []~u~ ll{1.?pl f(',M (/J,J.r4',bC..

MICHAEL RAY DUNGAN APPELLANT

ON APPEAL FROM PULASKI CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE DAVID A. TAPP, JUDGE NO. 15-CR-00018 AND NO. 16-CR-00081

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE

MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT AFFIRMING IN PART, VACATING IN PART AND REMANDING Michael Ray Dungan was convicted of one count of third-degree rape, KRS 1 510 .060; one count of incest, KRS 530.020; one count of abuse of an adult, KRS 209 .990; and three counts of first-degree persistent felony offender ("PFOl"). The trial court sentenced him to a total of twenty years' imprisonment, and he now appeals as a matter of right. For the following reasons, we affirm in part, vacate in part and remand for resentencing.

11 Kentucky Revised Statutes.

I. Background.

At his home on Saturday, November 2, 2013, Dungan sexually assaulted his 36-year-old stepdaughter, J.M., who is wheelchair-bound, moderately intellectually impaired, and physically disabled. At the time, Dungan was J.M.'s primary caretaker; he looked after her while his wife, Janie Dungan (J.M.'s biological mother), worked. J.M. has progressive cerebellar ataxia; her condition has gradually worsened throughout her life. She has a low IQ, attended special education classes while in school, and requires assistance using the restroom, taking baths, and eating.

On the day in question, J.M.'s aunt (Dungan's sister-in-law), Bobbie Jo Helton, arrived at the Dungan residence to borrow a movie. Bobbie Jo lives next door to the Dungans. At Dungan's trial, Bobbie Jo testified that no one answered when she knocked on the door, which she said was unusual. She knocked again and again no one answered. Bobbie Jo stated she then opened the door and hollered; still no one answered. Bobbie Joe entered the home and observed J .M slumped down in her wheelchair in Dungan's bedroom, where J.M. normally does not go. J.M. was turned sideways, facing the bed. Dungan emerged from the bedroom, pulling up his shorts. Bobbie Jo stated that neither he, nor J.M., said anything to her. Bobbie Jo turned and left.

Bobbie Jo contacted her niece (J.M.'s sister), Erin Wolf, about the incident; Erin reported it to J.M.'s mother, Janie, the next morning. When Dungan returned home from church that morning, Janie and Erin confronted him. Janie told Dungan, "You've done it again and you're leaving" and packed

up his clothing. Erin called the police. Dungan told Janie what had happened was her fault because she would not go to church with him. Janie replied that he was going back to jail, to which Dungan responded that he did not need jail, he needed therapy, because he was sick. Dungan then grabbed a knife and threatened to kill himself. About that time, the police arrived and arrested him.

Erin took J .M. to the hospital to be examined. A sexual assault kit was conducted; the external genital swab performed on J .M. was later confirmed to contain semen, and the Advanced Y-STR analysis of the external genital swab matched Dungan and his paternal relatives, making it 2 , 141 times more likely that the DNA came from Dungan or one of his male paternal relatives than from a random caucasian male. The only other two males in Dungan's family were his son and his nephew. Testimony at trial revealed that neither was in the area on or around November 2, 2013 .

Later, Erin took J .M. to meet with a forensic investigator in Russell County. J.M. testified at trial that she recalled this interview and stated that she told the investigator the truth. However, J.M.'s trial testimony was inconsistent with what she had told the forensic investigator. At trial, J .M. testified that she remembered the police coming to her home and that afterwards Dungan did not live with them anymore. She testified that Dungan never touched her with his privates; nor had she ever seen his privates. She did not remember Bobbie Jo almost catching them right before he stopped living with them. She stated she remembered going with Erin to the forensic

investigator and that she told the investigator the truth, which was that Dungan had touched her. She was asked by defense counsel if she told the police that Dungan did not touch her, and J .M. said, "but he did."

Over defense's objection, the Commonwealth played portions of J.M.'s recorded interview with the forensic investigator. Because J.M.'s trial testimony was inconsistent with statements she had made to the forensic

investigator, the Commonwealth sought to impeach her using the recorded ,;

interview. J.M. told the forensic investigator that Dungan had "put his thing in her" by putting her on the bed, standing up and pulling down his pants. He then "put his thing in her crotch" and told J.M. that he did not want her to get pregnant. J.M. said that Bobbie Jo almost caught them before the police came. J.M. explained that she did not want her dad to find out that she was talking and she did not want this to happen to anyone else. She knew what had happened was dirty, and was afraid that her parents would get divorced if people found out.

To elicit this testimony from J.M., the Commonwealth underwent a lengthy process of playing the question asked by the forensic investigator, pausing the video, asking J.M. if she was asked the question, and, when J.M. said no, playing her recorded answer. On cross-examination, defense asked J.M. if Dungan put his thing inside her, and she said it was between her legs because he was afraid she would get pregnant.

Also over defense's objection, Dungan's 1992 statement, wherein he admitted to sexually assaulting J.M., was admitted through Dom Acciardo, a

retired KSP trooper who investigated allegations of sexual misconduct involving · Dungan in the early 1990's. At defense's request, the trial court admonished the jury to consider the statement only as it tends to prove, or disprove, lack of mistake, opportunity, common scheme or plan, motive, and state of mind.

Dungan testified in his defense, claiming that the semen found on J.M.'s genitals could have been transferred from the bedsheets where he and Janie had sex the night before. Dungan denied sexually assaulting J.M., and explained that because she had been complaining about her pants being on backward, he had come into the bedroom, stood her up, pulled her pants down, put her on the bed, pulled her pants off, slipped them back on, stood her up, and put her back in the wheelchair. He said he was in the process of folding laundry when he heard a knock on the door, and that his shorts got hung up on J.M.'s wheelchair as he passed by to answer the door. He explained that was the reason he was pulling up his pants when Bobbie Jo saw him.

The defense introduced evidence that at a prior plea colloquy in this case, to complete the plea, Dungan said "one thing led to another and he ejaculated on J.M." But because Dungan refused to admit to having sexual intercourse with J.M., the Commonwealth rescinded the plea offer. On the stand, Dungan also admitted to pleading guilty to sexual abuse involving J.M. in the 1990's. Dungan claimed he signed the 1992 statement to protect his family from the scrutiny of a trial.

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Michael Ray Dungan v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, (Ky. 2017).

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