Slone v. Commonwealth

382 S.W.3d 851, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 172, 2012 WL 5285701
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 25, 2012
DocketNo. 2011-SC-000493-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 382 S.W.3d 851 (Slone 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
Slone v. Commonwealth, 382 S.W.3d 851, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 172, 2012 WL 5285701 (Ky. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

Justice VENTERS.

Appellant, William D. Slone, appeals as a matter of right, Ky. Const. § 110, from a judgment of the Campbell Circuit Court convicting him of first’ degree rape, first-degree sodomy, of being a first-degree persistent felony offender, and fixing his sentence at thirty years’ imprisonment.

As grounds for relief, Appellant raises the following issues: (1) that the trial court abused its discretion on the morning of the trial by granting the Commonwealth’s motion for a continuance; (2) that the trial court erred by not permitting Appellant to cross-examine the victim’ about her failure to appear on the first trial date; (3) that the trial court erred by permitting the victim to testify regarding her fear of getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) from Appellant; (4) that a mistrial should have been granted when it was discovered mid-way through the trial that a final version of the sexual assault nurse-examiner’s report had not been provided to the defense; (5) that the trial court erred by (a) failing to conduct a competency evaluation prior to trial, and (b) by failing to send him for further mental evaluation prior to sentencing; (6) that error occurred as a result of the prosecutor’s comment during closing arguments that questioned why Appellant did not immediately tell police that he had had a consensual sexual encounter with the victim, an argument that Appellant construes as a comment on his right to remain silent; and (7) that the trial court erred by excusing a juror without sufficient cause.

For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In December 2009, the alleged victim was at her sister’s home when, late in the evening, she noticed Appellant’s vehicle [855]*855parked at a nearby residence. The victim was acquainted with Appellant, and on an earlier occasion he had taken her to visit her children who lived in another county. Needing his assistance again, she went to talk to him at the nearby residence. There they began drinking, and then went to a bar where they continued to drink, and they listened to music and danced. The victim became intoxicated.

The victim claimed that after they left the bar, Appellant drove his truck into a parking lot, where he raped and sodomized her. When the sexual assault began, however, she discretely called 911 on her cell phone, and then set the phone on the floorboard. Consequently, the entirety of the assault was captured by the audio recording of the 911 call. It clearly depicts the victim’s resistance to Appellant’s effort to engage in sexual relations with her.

Using tracking technology, the police attempted without success to locate the source of the call. When the phone connection finally terminated, police called the number of the victim’s phone, which was answered by the victim’s sister. She told police the victim was there at her residence. The police arrived to find an extremely distraught woman who told police that Appellant had raped her, and that she feared contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) from him. She was taken to a hospital where a rape kit analysis was performed and she was provided prophylactic treatment for STD, including a twenty-eight day treatment for HIV.

Based upon the above events, Appellant was indicted for first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, and being a first-degree persistent felony offender.

II. GRANTING THE CONTINUANCE WAS A PROPER EXERCISE OF JUDICIAL DISCRETION

The case had been set for trial in early December of 2010 on the charges of first-degree rape and first-degree persistent felony offender. However, five days before that trial date, Appellant was indicted on the additional charge of first-degree sodomy. Because of the new charge, and the fact that the results of the DNA testing had just become available, the trial was continued without objection. The trial was rescheduled for February 1, 2011.

When the February 2011 trial date arrived, the victim failed to appear despite the fact that she had been served with a subpoena to command her presence at the trial. Over Appellant’s objection, the trial court granted the Commonwealth’s motion for a continuance. At the same time the trial court also released Appellant from jail on his own recognizance, and issued an arrest warrant for the victim. A new trial date was set. The trial court admonished the Commonwealth that if the victim again failed to appear, the case would be dismissed with prejudice. The victim was arrested, and held in jail pending trial. Ultimately, she appeared at trial and testified consistently with the allegations contained in the indictments.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred by granting the Commonwealth’s request to postpone the February trial. RCr 9.04 permits the trial court, upon motion and sufficient cause shown by either party, to grant a postponement of a hearing or trial. When ruling on a motion for a continuance the trial court must consider the facts of each case, especially the length of the delay; previous continuances; inconvenience to the litigants, witnesses, counsel and the court; whether the delay is purposeful or is caused by the accused; the complexity ,of the case; and whether denying the continuance will lead to identifiable prejudice. Edmonds v. Commonwealth, 189 S.W.3d 558, 564 (Ky.2006). On [856]*856appeal, a trial court’s decision to grant or deny a request for a continuance is reviewed under the abuse of discretion standard.- Id.; Wells v. Salyer, 452 S.W.2d 392, 395-96 (Ky.1970) (“An application for a continuance is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court and unless the discretion has been abused the action of that court will not be disturbed.”). “The test for abuse of discretion is whether the trial judge’s decision was arbitrary,' unreasonable, unfair, or unsupported by sound legal principles.”' Commonwealth v. English, 993 S.W.2d 941, 945 (Ky.1999).

Application of the above factors demonstrates that the trial court properly granted the continuance. First, the delay was relatively short because the new trial date was set only seven weeks later. Although there had been a previous continuance, it was justified by the late return of the DNA test results and the new sodomy charged Appellant was not unreasonably inconvenienced by the postponement, and as a result of the continuance he was released from jail, where he had been since his arrest a year earlier. Any inconvenience of the delay was at least somewhat mitigated by that important accommodation. Finally, denial of the continuance would have resulted in extreme, if not fatal, prejudice to the Commonwealth’s case because it would have been extraordinarily difficult, although not impossible,1 for the Commonwealth to present a viable case without the testimony of the complaining witness. Upon reflection of all relevant circumstances facing the trial court, we find no abuse of discretion in granting the continuance.

III. CROSS-EXAMINATION OF THE VICTIM REGARDING HER FAILURE TO APPEAR ON THE FIRST TRIAL DATE

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
382 S.W.3d 851, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 172, 2012 WL 5285701, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slone-v-commonwealth-ky-2012.