Justia Kentucky Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of the use of a weapon of mass destruction in the second degree for and attempted murder for installing a pipe bomb in a car. Appellant was sentenced to forty years in prison. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Appellant’s conviction did not violate double jeopardy principles; (2) the trial court did not err in finding that serious physical injury occurred to the victim and in sentencing Appellant as a violent offender; (3) the trial court’s refusal to allow the jurors to use their notes during deliberations was not reversible error; and (4) Appellant was not wrongly denied his motion for directed verdict. View "Biederman v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

Appellant, a Kentucky-licensed land surveyor, testified as a trial expert on behalf of defendants in a quiet-title action in circuit court. The trial court eventually ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Alleging that Appellant gave misleading and inaccurate trial testimony during the trial, the Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors initiated disciplinary proceedings against Appellant. The Board ultimately suspended Plaintiff’s surveyor’s license, concluding that Plaintiff’s expert witness performance violated professional standards. Appellant sought judicial review. The Supreme Court held (1) a number of the statutes and regulations enforced by the Board against Appellant were impermissibly vague as applied to him; and (2) the Board’s decision to discipline Appellant was supported by substantial evidence. Remanded to the Board for reconsideration of Appellant’s sanction. View "Curd v. Ky. State Bd. of Licensure for Prof’l Eng’rs & Land Surveyors" on Justia Law

A former teacher, Terum Hopper, filed a wrongful termination action against the Jefferson County Board of Education. The Board moved for summary judgment, arguing that Hopper’s tort claims were barred by governmental immunity and that Hopper was required to pursue the administrative remedies set forth in Ky. Rev. Stat. 161.790 to challenge the termination of his employment contract. The trial court granted the summary judgment motion as to the governmental immunity claims but denied the motion as to the breach of contract claims, declaring that Hopper was entitled to file suit on these claims rather than pursue administrative remedies. The Board sought a writ prohibiting the lower court from trying Hopper’s breach of contract claims. The court of appeals denied the writ, concluding that the circuit court had subject matter jurisdiction over the claims and that the Board had an adequate remedy. The Supreme Court reversed and granted the writ, holding that because Hopper filed an action in the circuit court without first exhausting the administrative remedies provided in section 161.790, the circuit court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear his claim. View "Jefferson County Bd. of Educ. v. Hon. Brian C. Edwards" on Justia Law

The 2008-2010 biennial budget bill, enacted by the General Assembly, provided for the transfer to the State’s general fund of over $10 million from funds created within the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (HBC) and the transfer or $700,000 from the fund dedicated to the Department of Charitable Gaming (DCG). In two separate actions, licensed building contractors (collectively, “Klein”) and licensed non-profit organizations (collectively, “Soccer Alliance”) brought suit challenging the transfers. In Klein, the trial court ruled that the transfer of funds was lawful. In Soccer Alliance, the trial court ruled that the transfer transformed a lawful regulatory fee into an unlawful tax. The court of appeals panels affirmed in Klein and reversed in Soccer Alliance, concluding that the challenged transfers were lawful and did not constitute an unconstitutional tax. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the budget-bill transfers did not cross the line from lawful surplus to unlawful tax. View "Klein v. Flanery" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendants were convicted in a joint trial of several drug-related crimes. The Supreme Court consolidated Defendants’ appeals and affirmed all convictions for both Defendants with the exception of Defendants’ convictions for possession of a methamphetamine precursor, which the Court vacated because, when coupled with the manufacturing methamphetamine convictions, the possession of a methamphetamine precursor convictions violated the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. In addition, the Court reversed the trial court’s imposition of court fees and costs against Defendants, as the trial court waived court costs, which precluded the assessment of a public defender fee. Remanded. View "Sevier v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Appellant was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Supreme Court reversed the conviction, holding (1) the evidence was sufficient to deny Appellant’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal and did not require unreasonable inferences for the jury to reach a guilt verdict; but (2) the trial court erred in admitting testimony about an unrelated incident involving a used condom, as the evidence was impermissible evidence of other acts under Ky. R. Evid. 404(b) given the Commonwealth’s failure to establish proof of the factual condition necessary to make it relevant, and the error was not harmless. Remanded. View "Southworth v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

Certified Tool and Manufacturing Corporation purchased a Komatsu press and agreed in a “lease” to pay Capital Community Economic/Industrial Development Corporation monthly payments for the press. Certified Tool later obtained a loan from Delphi Automotive Systems, LLC and granted Delphi an interest in its property under a security agreement. Delphi perfected its security interest. After Certified Tool defaulted on the promissory note and security agreement, Delphi filed a declaratory judgment action asserting that its perfected security interest in the Komatsu press was superior to the unperfected security interest claimed by Capital Community. The court of appeals concluded that Capital Community’s security interest in the Komatsu press was not subject to the provisions of Article 9 of the state’s Uniform Commercial Code. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that there was no basis for excusing Capital Community’s failure to comply with Article 9, and therefore, Delphi’s perfected security interest in the Komatsu press prevailed over Capital Community’s unperfected security interest. View "Delphi Auto. Sys., Inc. v. Capital Cmty." on Justia Law

In 2010, the Kentucky Board of Nursing placed the Sullivan University System’s (Spencerian) Applied Science in Nursing (ADN) program on probationary status. Spencerian filed suit, alleging that the Board’s decision was erroneous because it retroactively applied newly-enacted 2009 regulatory amendments to Spencerian. The circuit court granted summary judgment to the Board. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that the Board improperly applied the amended administrative regulations to Spencerian’s conduct that predated the amendments. During the pendency of this appeal, Spencerian instituted numerous changes to its ADN program, which resulted in the Board placing the ADN program on full approval status. Therefore, under the circumstances, the Supreme Court dismissed the Board’s appeal as moot and vacated the rulings of the lower courts. View "Commonwealth, Ky. Bd. of Nursing v. Sullivan Univ. Sys., Inc." on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Appellee was found guilty of second-degree arson, second-degree burglary, and of being a first-degree persistent felony offender. The trial court erred in its peremptory strike allocation during voir dire, but Appellee’s counsel failed to preserve the issue for appeal. Appellee subsequently filed a motion pursuant to RCr 11.42 to vacate his sentence due to ineffective assistance of counsel, arguing that he would have used the two additional peremptory strikes denied to him by the trial court in striking two jurors. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that Appellee’s allegations were not credible. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the court of appeals erred in relying on Shane v. Commonwealth in reversing the decision of the trial court; and (2) Appellee failed to demonstrate how he was prejudiced by not being able to strike the two jurors. View "Commonwealth v. Lawson" on Justia Law

Appellee was indicted and convicted of two counts of identity theft. Appellee’s convictions arose from allegations that Appellee opened credit card accounts and obtained checks using her ex-husband’s name and that she filed a tax return and obtained a tax refund in her daughter’s name. The court of appeals reversed both convictions, concluding that the trial court erred in denying Appellee’s motion for a directed verdict because there was insufficient evidence to prove each element of Appellee’s convictions beyond a reasonable doubt. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) there was insufficient evidence to convict Appellee of the conviction of identity theft relating to her ex-husband; but (2) there was sufficient evidence to sustain the verdict of guilt for the conviction relating to Appellee’s daughter. View "Commonwealth v. Goss" on Justia Law