Justia Kentucky Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's denial of Defendant's motion to suppress evidence found in a drug dog sniff search during a traffic stop of the vehicle in which Defendant was a passenger, holding that the trial court erred by denying the motion to suppress.In reversing the denial of Defendant's motion to suppress, the court of appeals concluded that the investigating officer unconstitutionally extended the duration of the traffic stop to accommodate the dog-sniff search. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Commonwealth failed to establish that the extension of the traffic stop was supported by reasonable, articulable suspicion. View "Commonwealth v. Conner" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the circuit court denying Defendant's motion to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) with his application for expungement, holding that the IFP statute applies both to the filing fee and the expungement fee.Defendant pled guilty to felony theft by failure to make the required disposition of property. Defendant later filed an application for expungement. Defendant did not tender a filing fee but instead filed an IFP motion, which would have allowed him to proceed without payment of costs and fees. The trial court denied the motion, holding that the legislature did not intend Ky. Rev. Stat. 453.190 to apply to applications for expungements. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the IFP statute applies to both the $50 filing fee and the $250 expungement fee. View "Jones v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's conclusion that the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) and two of its divisions were entitled to sovereign immunity in this action and dismissing all claims against them, holding that there was no error.Plaintiff was injured in a collision between his bicycle and a police cruiser driver by a LFUCG employee. Plaintiff brought this negligence action, arguing that LFUCG's purchase of a retained-limit insurance policy, purchased for coverage beyond the limits of its self insurance policy, waived LFUCG's sovereign immunity up to policy limits. The trial court concluded that the LFUCG defendants were entitled to sovereign immunity, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court correctly held that the LFUCG defendants were immune from suit. View "Independence Bank v. Welch" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the opinion of the court of appeals reviewing an appeal from an interlocutory order in a civil action denying immunity under Kentucky's "Stand Your Ground" law, Ky. Rev. Stat. 503.085, holding that the court of appeals lacked jurisdiction.Defendant was indicted on charges of murder and first-degree assault. Defendant moved the trial court to find him immune from prosecution under section 503.085. The circuit court granted Defendant's motion for immunity and ordered that the indictments against him be dismissed with prejudice. Thereafter, Defendant filed motions for judgment on the pleadings in a civil case stemming from the same incident leading to the criminal charges, arguing that collateral estoppel and section 503.085(1) required that he be immune from civil action. The trial court denied the motion. The court of appeals reversed, finding that collateral estoppel applied. The Supreme Court vacated the opinion below, holding that the court of appeals lacked jurisdiction to consider the appeal. View "Childers v. Albright" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court denying Appellant's Ky. R. Crim. P. 11.42, 10.02, 60.02, and 60.03 motion for relief, holding that the circuit court did not err in dismissing the claim.After a second trial, Defendant was convicted of two counts of complicity to murder, first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and first-degree burglary. In his motion at issue on appeal, Appellant argued that McCoy v. Louisiana, 138 S.Ct. 1500 (2018), governed his claim that his trial attorney conceded guilt against his desire to maintain actual innocence of the charged crimes. The circuit court denied the motion on the grounds that Defendant had already presented this claim and the Supreme Court had ruled on it. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court did not err in determining that the claim was both substantively and procedurally improper. View "Epperson v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals' decision affirming the opinion, workers' compensation award, and order of the administrative law judge (ALJ) determining that Appellee was permanently and totally disabled, holding that there was no error.Appellee was injured during the course and scope of his employment. An ALJ determined that Appellee was permanently, totally disabled. The Workers' Compensation Board affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Appellee's testimony regarding his psychological medical conditions was competent evidence; (2) the ALJ did not rely solely upon psychological testimony to find Appellee was permanently, totally disabled; and (3) there was substantial evidence in the record to sustain the ALJ's opinion and award. View "Time Warner Cable, Inc. v. Smith" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the order and judgment of the circuit court enforcing a settlement agreement, holding that the Statute of Frauds was applicable in this case.After a dispute over an alleged forgery in a will, the parties reached a mediation agreement as to certain property. The trial court adopted the mediation agreement as part of its judgment and ordered it to be enforced. The court of appeals appealed, ruling that the Statute of Frauds was not applicable. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Statute of Frauds was applicable, barring enforcement of the agreement. View "Adamson v. Adamson" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals' decision dismissing Appellant's appeal from a circuit court order terminating her parental rights, holding that the court of appeals erred in holding that Appellant's failure to name the children in her notice of appeal was a jurisdictional defect requiring dismissal.In ordering the appeal to be dismissed, the court of appeals held that serving the children's guardian ad litem with the notice of appeal was insufficient to cure the jurisdiction defect in this case of failing to name the children in either the caption or body of the notice of appeal. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) service of the notice of appeal upon a child's guardian ad litem is sufficient to confer jurisdiction over that child to an appellate court; and (2) R.L.W. v. Cabinet for Human Resrouces, 756 S.W.2d 148 (Ky. App. 1988), is overruled insofar as it holds that the failure to name a child in a notice of appeal from a termination of parental rights is automatic grounds for dismissal. View "M.A.B. v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the trial court's order of summary judgment determining that a county jail may both retain monies collected from a prisoner and further bill the same prisoner for the cost of his confinement after the charges against him have been dropped, holding that the trial court and court of appeals erred in their interpretation of Ky. Rev. Stat. 441.265.At the time of his release, Appellant owed the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC) $4,009 in fees. Thereafter, the criminal charges against Appellant were dismissed without prejudice. Appellant later filed a class action complaint claiming that section 441.265 did not permit the CCDC to bill him for the cost of his confinement when all charges against him had been dismissed. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the CCDC, concluding that section 441.265 permitted the CCDC to assess the fees and that no provision of the Kentucky Constitution had been violated. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the CCDC violated section 441.265 because the billing and collecting of fees assessed by the CCDC cannot be carried out without the order of a sentencing court. View "Jones v. Clark County" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's judgment convicting Defendant of murder, holding that there was no prejudicial error.On appeal, Defendant argued that the trial court erred by granting a partial Fifth Amendment privilege to a witness, overruling his objection to the Commonwealth's closing argument, allowing a detective to narrate videos about which he had no personal knowledge, and denying Defendant the opportunity to recross-examine the detective regarding the testimony he provided during his redirect examination. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that there was no error requiring reversal of Defendant's convictions. View "McRae v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law