Timothy L. Delehanty v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

Kentucky Supreme Court·Decided June 20, 2025·No. 2024-SC-0413·Unpublished

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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED OPINION

THIS OPINION IS DESIGNATED “NOT TO BE PUBLISHED.” PURSUANT TO THE RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE PROMULGATED BY THE SUPREME COURT, RAP 40(D), THIS OPINION IS NOT TO BE PUBLISHED AND SHALL NOT BE CITED OR USED AS BINDING PRECEDENT IN ANY OTHER CASE IN ANY COURT OF THIS STATE; HOWEVER, UNPUBLISHED KENTUCKY APPELLATE DECISIONS, RENDERED AFTER JANUARY 1, 2003, MAY BE CITED FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT IF THERE IS NO PUBLISHED OPINION THAT WOULD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 OPINIONS CITED FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT SHALL BE SET OUT AS AN UNPUBLISHED DECISION IN THE FILED DOCUMENT AND A COPY OF THE ENTIRE DECISION SHALL BE TENDERED ALONG WITH THE DOCUMENT TO THE COURT AND ALL PARTIES TO THE ACTION.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: JUNE 20, 2025

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Supreme Court of Kentucky 2024-SC-0413-MR

TIMOTHY L. DELEHANTY APPELLANT

ON APPEAL FROM KENTON CIRCUIT COURT V. HONORABLE MARY K. MOLLOY, JUDGE NOS. 24-CR-00211 & 24-CR-00417

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE

MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT AFFIRMING

Timothy Lee Delehanty (“Delehanty”) appeals from two final judgments entered on August 13, 2024. On appeal, Delehanty argues the circuit court erred in denying his motions to withdraw his guilty pleas and his request to represent himself. Finding no error, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In March 2024, Delehanty was indicted for the 2006 murder of Paul Clayton (“Clayton”), following his confession. 1 While in custody awaiting disposition of the murder charge, Delehanty viciously attacked another inmate. The attack was captured on video surveillance. He was subsequently indicted

1 According to the Uniform Citation, “Covington Police received a call from St. [Elizabeth

Hospital] … in reference to [Delehanty] leaving with an IV in his arm. On arrival, [Delehanty] confessed to killing Paul Clayton in 2006 and wanted to talk about it …. [Delehanty] stated he stabbed the victim 50-60 times inside the victim’s residence. [Delehanty] stated he then fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle.” Record in 24-CR-00211 (R.) at 4.

on charges of attempted murder, first-degree strangulation, second-degree assault, and being a first-degree persistent felony offender. 2 On May 20, 2024, Delehanty appeared in court with counsel to enter guilty pleas in both cases. On the original murder charge, the Commonwealth offered Delehanty a life sentence that would run concurrently with the new charges in 24-CR-0017. In that case, the Commonwealth offered Delehanty ten years on the three underlying charges, enhanced to life imprisonment by the persistent felony offender charge, and agreed that the sentence would run concurrently with the murder charge.

Delehanty had to be arraigned on the new case before he could plead guilty to both. During arraignment, defense counsel, Stephen Florian (“Florian”) informed the circuit court that he had received and reviewed the discovery on both cases, including the video surveillance from the jail showing the acts which led to the new indictment. Delehanty was then placed under oath, and the plea colloquy commenced. As part of the plea colloquy, the court asked Delehanty what he did to be guilty. In response to the murder charge, Delehanty responded, “I killed Paul Clayton.” He also admitted that he confessed to the murder to the police. As to the attempted murder case, Delehanty told the court that he “attacked Johnathan Maskiell.” Following the plea colloquy, the court found that Delehanty’s pleas were knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made.

2 24-CR-00417.

When Delehanty appeared for sentencing a couple of months later, he had new counsel, Jeffery Lawson (“Lawson”). He informed the court that the Department of Public Advocacy (DPA) had appointed him as conflict counsel because Delehanty wanted to withdraw his guilty pleas. Lawson requested and was granted a two-week continuance to file a written motion, which he subsequently submitted.

On August 12, 2024, Delehanty appeared in court with Lawson for sentencing. When the court called the matter, it stated that Delehanty was present for sentencing and noted that a motion to withdraw his guilty plea had been filed in one of the cases. It inquired if Delehanty still wished to proceed with the motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and Delehanty affirmed that he did. The Commonwealth pointed out that Delehanty had not filed his motion in the attempted murder case and expressed its intention to proceed with sentencing for that case.

The court acknowledged that no motion had been filed in the attempted murder case and began sentencing Delehanty. He became agitated. In what seemed to be a moment of panic, believing he was about to be sentenced, Delehanty stood up, objected, and told the court he wanted to object pro se. The trial court instructed him to sit down and be quiet. Delehanty insisted that he be allowed to “address the court” pro se because his counsel was not saying anything. The video shows that Lawson tried to interject, but Delehanty kept speaking over him. At the same time, the court instructed Delehanty to sit down and be quiet, but he would not and persisted, stating that he had a right

to object and proceed pro se. Four deputy sheriffs surrounded Delehanty and attempted to sit him down while he continued to resist. One of the deputies inquired of the court whether it wanted him taken back. The court asked Delehanty if he was going to behave and when there was no response told the deputies to “roll him back up to the table.”

Lawson finally managed to interject and object on Delehanty’s behalf. He informed the court that any failure to file the motion related to the attempted murder case was an error on his part. He made an oral motion to combine the second case with the motion to withdraw, acknowledging that the omission of the second case number was simply a clerical error. Delehanty agreed that it was indeed a clerical mistake. The court granted counsel’s request and agreed to hear the motion to withdraw for both cases. Then, Delehanty thanked the court but briefly continued to interrupt and speak over the court and Lawson, though not regarding his desire to represent himself. Instead, he accused the court of being biased and believed it had already made up its mind about his case and said he was “entitled to an impartial decisionmaker.” The court assured him that it was an “impartial decisionmaker.”

Lawson interjected and asked the court to place Delehanty under oath so that testimony could begin. Delehanty didn’t object or insist he represent himself. Rather, he raised his right hand and took the oath. Once under oath, Delehanty answered his counsel's questions about what happened before he pleaded guilty. He admitted to confessing to killing Clayton once again. He stated that he and Florian met only twice. He acknowledged discussing

defenses to the murder charge with Florian, primarily regarding his mental state during the murder in 2006, when he was 19 years old. He testified that they considered hiring a mental health expert to review his mental health treatment records from that time.

Delehanty claimed that Florian raised the issue of plea discussions shortly after the case began. Florian disputed that and insisted that Delehanty approached him about resolving both cases shortly after being indicted on the attempted murder charge. Thereafter, Florian spoke to the Commonwealth, who advised him that he was considering adding an aggravator to Delehanty’s murder charge—specifically, the robbery for stealing Clayton’s vehicle. Florian explained to Delehanty how an aggravator would affect his parole eligibility. The Commonwealth informed Florian that he would reindict and add the aggravator if Delehanty did not accept the plea offer. Florian also told Delehanty that he could face the death penalty if the aggravator was added.

Delehanty testified that he did not initially agree to plead guilty.

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Timothy L. Delehanty v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, (Ky. 2025).

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