Wiseman v. Commonwealth

587 S.W.2d 235, 1979 Ky. LEXIS 288
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedJune 12, 1979
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 587 S.W.2d 235 (Wiseman 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
Wiseman v. Commonwealth, 587 S.W.2d 235, 1979 Ky. LEXIS 288 (Ky. 1979).

Opinions

STERNBERG, Justice.

Robert Clayton Wiseman was indicted by the Boyd County Grand Jury for the murder of his wife, Gloria Wiseman. KRS 435.-010. The crime took place in the early morning hours of March 10, 1974, at the Western Hills Motor Lodge, in Ashland, Kentucky. The police responded to a call from the motel desk clerk and found the appellant clad merely in his underwear, scuffling on the balcony with another guest of the lodge. After they subdued the appellant, they entered his motel room and discovered Mrs. Wiseman’s severely beaten body. Death was attributed to asphyxiation due to aspiration of blood in the trachea and bronchial tubes.

In October 1975 the appellant, with paid counsel representing him, was first tried and convicted of murder. The trial court, however, granted a new trial after determining that the instruction to the jury on the penalty for murder was prejudicially erroneous. The second trial commenced on June 6, 1978. The jury found the appellant guilty of voluntary manslaughter and fixed his punishment at 21 years in prison. Hence, this appeal.

The appellant argues that the trial court erred in not directing a verdict of not guilty at the conclusion of the trial for failure of the Commonwealth to rebut appellant’s evidence that at the time of the commission of the offense he allegedly lacked necessary mental capacity. The appellant’s defense of insanity is statutory. KRS 504.020 provides as follows:

“(1) A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law.
(2) As used in this chapter, the term ‘mental disease or defect’ does not include an abnormality manifested only by repeated criminal or otherwise antisocial conduct.
(3) A defendant may prove mental disease or defect, as used in this section, in exculpation of criminal conduct.”

At the time the appellant killed his wife he was 24 years of age and she was 21. He was a teacher and athletic coach in the Greenup County High School. On the fateful night Robert and Gloria attended a high school district basketball tournament, in company with several of their friends. Following the game they were invited to, and did attend a party at the apartment of their neighbor, Perry Joe Madden, who lived beneath their apartment. Several people were in attendance; some were listening to music, others were playing cards, and others were watching television. The appellant was playing cards and Gloria was sitting on a couch in an adjoining room. Madden came by and sat down beside Gloria and they engaged in conversation. After [237]*237awhile the appellant entered the room and asked what they were doing. The evidence does not disclose that Gloria and Madden were doing anything other than talking; nevertheless, the appellant, in what is described as a serious tone of voice, said, “Perry, I’m sorry but I’m the jealous type.” Immediately thereafter, the appellant and his wife left the party and returned to their apartment. Later in the evening they drove to the Western Hills Motor Lodge, where they checked in between 11:00 p. m. and 1:00 a. m. The killing was placed at about 3:00 a. m. Madden testified that the appellant demonstrated no bizarre behavior at the parity, other than his statement of jealousy.

The night clerk at the motor lodge testified that he detected no unusual behavior on the part of the appellant when he checked in for a room. He stated, however, that sometime later he heard someone yelling “Oh Lord” and “Oh God,” so he went outside to see what was happening. He found the appellant on the balcony. He immediately called the police, who responded promptly. Four officers subdued the appellant, handcuffed him, and placed him in the police cruiser. While on the way to jail the appellant beat his head against the wire screen separating the front and back seats of the cruiser. After arriving at the police station the appellant was placed in a strait jacket, appearing wild and hysterical.

Three psychiatrists testified that the appellant lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. Dr. Francisco Montero, a forensic psychiatrist at Central State Hospital, where appellant was an inpatient from March 28, 1974, to April 25, 1974, diagnosed appellant’s condition as acute schizophrenia, active at the time of the killing but in such remission at the time of his examination as to permit him to stand trial. Dr. Montero described appellant’s symptoms as evidencing religious delusions as to God, evil and the devil, severe depression, crying; mental confusion and potential explosive behavior. Dr. John Thiel and Dr. John A. Schremly both examined the appellant and concurred in the findings and diagnosis of Dr. Monte-ro. The appellant’s father stated that the appellant demonstrated psychotic tendencies in 1968 and was hospitalized for six to eight weeks. He further testified that the appellant’s mother had suffered from some mental illness. The appellant did not testify.

At the conclusion of all of the evidence for both the Commonwealth and the appellant, the appellant moved the court to direct a verdict of not guilty because the Commonwealth failed to rebut clear and convincing evidence that the appellant, at the time of the killing, did not have substantial capacity to appreciate the criminal nature of the act and that he did not have substantial capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. The medical testimony, without equivocation, portrays the appellant as a victim of mental disorder or defect. It is without cavil that the appellant, at the time he killed his wife, was not acting in a normal manner. The status of the law in Kentucky as to the propriety of submitting an issue of insanity to the jury is clearly stated in Edwards v. Commonwealth, Ky., 554 S.W.2d 380 (1977), wherein this court said:

“. . . Although the foregoing discussion disposes of this allegation of error, we feel compelled to point out for the benefit of counsel that the introduction of proof of insanity by a defendant does not place a burden on the Commonwealth to prove him sane; rather, it entitles the defendant to an instruction to the jury that they may find him not guilty by reason of insanity, and thus properly makes the issue of insanity a matter for the jury’s determination.”

As to the quality of the testimony of the expert witnesses, in Tunget v. Commonwealth, 303 Ky. 834, 198 S.W.2d 785 (1947), we held that even though all expert witnesses testify favorably for the accused as to his insanity, where there is any evidence indicative of his sanity, there is presented an issue of fact for a jury determination. It is not necessary that there be a battle [238]*238between the experts as to the sanity of the accused. Oftentimes, lay witnesses testifying as to the customary conduct of an accused more nearly reflect his mental capacity than the high sounding names tagged to imaginary self-induced complaints.

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Wiseman v. Commonwealth
587 S.W.2d 235 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
587 S.W.2d 235, 1979 Ky. LEXIS 288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wiseman-v-commonwealth-ky-1979.