Williams v. Commonwealth

829 S.W.2d 942, 1992 Ky. App. LEXIS 32, 1992 WL 28960
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedFebruary 21, 1992
Docket90-CA-2736-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 829 S.W.2d 942 (Williams v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Commonwealth, 829 S.W.2d 942, 1992 Ky. App. LEXIS 32, 1992 WL 28960 (Ky. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

HOWERTON, Judge.

Robert Williams appeals from his conviction in the Fayette Circuit Court for manslaughter, second degree, for which he received a five-year prison sentence. He now argues that the trial court erred by refusing to strike a juror for cause, for prohibiting him from introducing the victim’s mental health records, and by refusing to consider alternative sentencing as required by KRS 500.095. Considering all of the particular facts in this case, we find no reversible error and affirm.

On March 30, 1990, Williams killed Albert Combs with a shotgun. Combs was known to be a bully, and he had a violent temper. He was also known to have mental problems and periodically was counseled and treated by Comprehensive Care in Lexington, Kentucky. The shooting was witnessed by several people, and Williams claims to have acted in self-defense; however, the specific details of the shooting are not necessary to a resolution of the three issues raised by Williams.

Williams first claims that the court erred by refusing to strike a juror for cause after the juror indicated that he thought someone who shot and killed another was automatically guilty of murder. Williams’ counsel continued questioning the jury panel concerning self-defense and specifically asked if any juror had a problem with the idea of self-defense. None of the jurors responded. After completing voir dire, the defense counsel moved to strike the one juror on the ground that he had formed an opinion as to Williams’ guilt. The court declined to strike that juror, indicating that he had been rehabilitated by the questioning concerning self-defense. The juror was nevertheless struck by the defense through the use of a peremptory challenge.

Williams now claims he was denied a fair trial because he was forced to use a peremptory challenge as opposed to having this juror struck for cause. We find no prejudicial error. The juror in question did not sit on this panel, and it appears that Williams was accorded an impartial jury. There was no violation of a constitutional right in this sense. Ross v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 81, 108 S.Ct. 2273, 101 L.Ed.2d 80 (1988). See also Turpin v. Commonwealth, Ky., 780 S.W.2d 619 (1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1058, 110 S.Ct. 1530, 108 L.Ed.2d 769 (1990).

In order to prevail on this issue, Williams must demonstrate that all of his peremptory challenges were exhausted and that an incompetent juror was allowed to sit who should have been struck for cause. Marsch v. Commonwealth, Ky., 743 S.W.2d 830 (1987). Williams does not complain that any incompetent juror sat, nor was he required to exhaust his peremptory challenges in order to eliminate all suspected prejudicial jurors.

The trial court must excuse jurors for cause when there is a “reasonable ground to believe that a prospective juror cannot render a fair and impartial verdict on the evidence_” RCr 9.36(1). Although this particular juror initially indicated that he thought Williams was guilty of murder if he admittedly shot Albert Combs, the juror did not indicate that he would have any problem excusing Williams if he was acting in self-defense. We cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion, nor was its decision clearly erroneous. See Peters v. Commonwealth, Ky., 505 S.W.2d 764 (1974), and Campbell v. Commonwealth, Ky., 788 S.W.2d 260 (1990).

Williams next argues that the trial court erred by prohibiting the introduction of Combs’ Comprehensive Care records. Prior to trial, Williams requested that the records be made available to him. The [944]*944court initially granted the request, but Comprehensive Care responded with a motion to quash the subpoena. The court conducted a hearing and determined that the records would be inadmissible.

KRS 421.215 provides that communications between a patient and a psychiatrist are to be confidential and privileged. We determine that Amburgey v. Central Kentucky Regional Mental Health Board, Ky.App., 663 S.W.2d 952 (1983), and Southern Bluegrass Mental Health v. Angelucci, Ky.App., 609 S.W.2d 931 (1980), are disposi-tive of this issue. As such, these records are privileged communications, and KRS 421.215 prohibits their disclosure.

Williams attempts to distinguish these two cases because Combs is deceased, whereas the parties involved in the two cited cases were not. We fail to see where this fact should make any difference. The privilege survives the death of the patient. The statute does not provide any exception merely because a patient dies. Whatever revelations Combs might have given to his doctor were confidential, and the privilege is absolute.

Furthermore, it appears that any information which might have been obtained from Comprehensive Care records would be mostly cumulative. Several witnesses testified as to Combs’ character and his reputation for being dangerous. Even Combs’ mother testified that he was on medication from Comprehensive Care but that he had not taken the medication for three or four months. She testified that he could be violent and that he became worse when he was drinking alcohol. There was proof that he had been drinking on the day he was killed.

Williams’ final argument is that the court erred by refusing to consider the alternative sentencing provisions of KRS 500.095. Subsection (1) of that statute, which was enacted in 1990, provides:

In every case in which a person pleads guilty to or is convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment, the judge shall consider whether the person should be sentenced to a term of community service as an alternative to the prison term. The term of community service shall not be shorter than the length of the prison term nor longer than twice the length of the prison term. Failure to complete the prescribed term of community service shall be deemed a probation violation and shall subject the defendant to serve the prison service originally fixed by the court or jury. (Emphasis added.)

The trial court declined to consider alternative sentencing, however, because of KRS 533.060(1), which was enacted in 1976. That statute reads:

When a person has been convicted of an offense or has entered a plea of guilty to an offense classified as a Class A, B, or C felony and the commission of such offense

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Bluebook (online)
829 S.W.2d 942, 1992 Ky. App. LEXIS 32, 1992 WL 28960, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-commonwealth-kyctapp-1992.