Pack v. Commonwealth

610 S.W.2d 594, 1980 Ky. LEXIS 281
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 25, 1980
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 610 S.W.2d 594 (Pack 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
Pack v. Commonwealth, 610 S.W.2d 594, 1980 Ky. LEXIS 281 (Ky. 1980).

Opinion

STERNBERG, Justice.

The Grand Jury of Letcher County, Kentucky, returned an indictment charging the appellant with (a) seven separate counts of rape in the first degree, (b) two separate counts of sodomy in the first degree, and (c) one count of robbery in the first degree. The indictment also charged Lonnie Pack, brother of the appellant, with (a) one count of rape in the first degree, and (b) one count of assault in the second degree. This appeal concerns Vernon Pack only.

After a three-day jury trial at which the appellant and Lonnie were jointly tried, the appellant was found guilty of all rape and sodomy charges and not guilty of the robbery charge. On each of the seven rape charges the appellant was sentenced to serve ten years in the penitentiary, the sentences to run consecutively. On each of the two sodomy charges the appellant was sentenced to serve 20 years, said sentences to run consecutively to each other and to the sentences on the rape charges. The offenses were committed on August 27, 1978, in Letcher County, Kentucky. The rape and sodomy offenses were committed on Marcia Wojciechowski, and the robbery and assault offenses were committed against James Podest.

On this appeal the appellant charges:
“Appellant was denied a fair trial when the prosecution introduced and used against him evidence which was illegally seized from his car.”
“Vernon was denied a fair trial as the result of the prosecution’s impermissible impeachment of his alibi witnesses.”

Marcia was 18 years of age and James, her companion, was 21. They traveled by bus from Louisville, Kentucky, to visit Marcia’s grandmother and sister at Neon, Ken[596]*596tucky. They got as far as Hazard, where they learned that there was no bus on to Neon. They then proceeded to hitchhike a ride with Vernon and Lonnie in a red Vega automobile. There was a stereo speaker attached to the inside roof of the car at the place where the dome light is located, and a long wire hung down from the speaker. After traveling several miles, Vernon, who was driving, turned off the main highway and onto a dirt and gravel trail, and shortly thereafter he stopped the car. Vernon and Lonnie, both of whom were sitting in the' front seat, turned and confronted Marcia and James, who were, of course, in the back seat. Vernon had a hawkbill knife and Lonnie had a pocket knife. Marcia and James were ordered to get out of the car, which they did. James was assaulted by being hit and kicked until be became unconscious. Marcia was stripped of her clothes and raped by Vernon. After several rectal and vaginal rapes, Vernon told Lonnie that it was his turn, and while Lonnie raped Marcia, Vernon beat up some more on James. With his hawkbill knife he proceeded to cut Marcia’s clothes into shreds, with which he tied James and continued beating him. Vernon then told Lonnie to get away from Marcia, and he again proceeded with two more rapes. In all, Marcia was raped seven times by Vernon and one time by Lonnie before they satisfied their beastly lust. Vernon then proceeded to sharpen a point on a stick and push it up into Marcia’s rectum to see how much pain she could stand. After James’ hands were tied, he was put in the front seat of the car, where he worked his hands loose. He took a bumper jack from the car, and while Vernon was in his last act of rape he hit him with the jack. In the meantime Lonnie had departed the scene. At this point Vernon also fled. Being freed from their captors, Marcia and James found their way to the highway. A passing car stopped and took them to the Cumberland Police Station, where they related the events to the police and gave the police the bumper jack which James used in making their escape. The police dispatcher broadcast the details of the incident to the cars cruising in the area so that they could be on the lookout for the culprits. The car used in the commission of these felonies was described as being a 1972-1973 red Vega, with a stereo speaker implanted in the ceiling where the dome light is supposed to be and a wire hanging loose from it. The car was occupied by two white males, one of whom had a harelip and was between 25 and 40 years of age.

On August 28,1978, Dennis Webb, a state trooper working out of Post 13 at Hazard, Kentucky, and who had learned of the criminal acts, was patrolling in Letcher County. While doing so, Officer Webb observed a red Vega on Highway 119 at Cona, about one-fourth mile from the junction of US 119 and Ky. 805, and clocked by him at going 68 miles per hour. The car was pulled over. It was being driven by appellant, although not licensed in his name. Appellant appeared to the arresting officer to be intoxicated and was arrested for DWI and taken to jail. The officer administered a breathalyzer test, which showed a .10 reading. KRS 189.520(4)(c) provides that such a blood test reading creates a presumption that the operator is driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquors. The car was impounded and turned over to the Parkway Shell Service Station at Whitesburg, Kentucky, for safekeeping. After the car had been removed by the Shell station attendant, Officer Webb placed appellant in the Letcher County jail on the charge of DWI. He then called Post 13 and advised what had occurred. In turn, Frank Fleming, a detective with the Kentucky State Police, was notified. Immediately he picked up Marcia. Together they went to investigate the report and to determine whether the car was actually the one involved in the affair. Officer Fleming, accompanied by Marcia, viewed the car. There in full view for anyone to see was a hawkbill knife lying on the gear shift of the car, the stereo speaker fastened to the ceiling of the car, a wire hanging from the speaker, a straw hat, and brown spots on the rubber mat in the back, which were identified by Officer Fleming as bloodspots. In view of Marcia’s identification of the car, [597]*597the stereo speaker fastened to the ceiling with a wire hanging loose, and, of course, the car itself, Officer Fleming concluded that the car was the one used by appellant and Lonnie, and he proceeded to search it for other evidence. In addition to the articles which were in full view, Officer Fleming, when he opened the door of the car, found an automobile lug wrench. All of the evidence was then taken from the car and kept for use at the trial.

In approaching the first issue, we need to determine not only the legality of the seizure and impoundment of the automobile but also the legality of the search and recovery from the automobile of the fruit or instrumentalities of the crime.

Seizure and Impoundment

In dealing with impounding vehicles, this court wrote in Wagner v. Commonwealth, Ky., 581 S.W.2d 352 (1979), that there are four instances in which a vehicle may be impounded without a warrant. They are:

“1. The owner or permissive user consents to the impoundment;
2. The vehicle, if not removed, constitutes a danger to other persons or property or the public safety and the owner or permissive user cannot reasonably arrange for alternate means of removal;
3. The police have probable cause to believe both that the vehicle constitutes an instrumentality or fruit of a crime and that absent immediate impoundment the vehicle will be removed by a third party;

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Related

Sholler v. Commonwealth
969 S.W.2d 706 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1998)
Bush v. Commonwealth
839 S.W.2d 550 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1992)
Dentist Thacker v. John Rees, Warden
841 F.2d 1127 (Sixth Circuit, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
610 S.W.2d 594, 1980 Ky. LEXIS 281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pack-v-commonwealth-ky-1980.