Justia Kentucky Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals' decision that invalidated Ky. Rev. Stat. 341.470(3) on constitutional grounds, holding that Appellant lacked standing to question the validity of the statute.After he was discharged from his employment with a corporation for misconduct related to his work Appellant made a claim for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. A referee denied benefits, and the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission affirmed. On appeal, Appellant argued that a non-attorney employee appearing on behalf of the corporation at the UI referee hearings, as authorized by section 341.470(3), was impermissibly engaging in the practice of law. The court of appeals reversed, concluding that corporations must be represented by counsel at UI referee hearings. The Supreme Court remanded the case, holding that Appellant lacked standing to contest the constitutional validity of section 341.470(3) because he failed to show an injury in fact or that he suffered any harm from the corporation's lack of legal representation. View "Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission v. Nichols" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's determination that the Board of Trustees of the Kentucky Retirement Systems' (Board) investment authority with respect to the County Employees Retirement System (CERS) was governed by Ky. Rev. Stat. 61.650, holding that there was no error.The Cities of Fort Wright, Covington, Taylor Mill, and Independence (the Cities) brought this action alleging improper investments by the Board in its management of CERS. The trial court granted the Board's motion for declaratory judgment, determining that the Board had broad discretion in making investments, see Ky. Rev. Stat. 61.650 and 61.545(21), and therefore, its investments were lawful. The court of appeals affirmed. At issue on appeal was whether the Board's authorized investments were controlled broadly by section 61.650, as argued by the Board, or more restrictively by Ky. Rev. Stat. 78.790, as argued by the Cities. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the circuit court correctly determined that the Board's investment authority was governed by section 61.650 and not by section 78.790. View "City of Fort Wright v. Board of Trustees of Kentucky Retirement Systems" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court's judgment in favor of Defendants in this suit against healthcare providers seeking damages for alleged breach of duties, holding that there was no error.Plaintiff sued Baptist Healthcare System, Inc., Apogee Medical Group Kentucky, PSC and Subhose Bathing, M.D. alleging that Defendants breached their standards of care for by prescribing two antibiotics known to be linked to arrhythmias and cardiac arrest when taken by patients with low potassium. After a trial, the jury found that neither defendant had breached their standard of care. The court of appeals affirmed. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Plaintiff claimed eight errors in the proceedings below. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that there was no prejudicial error in this case. View "Kentucky Guardianship Administrators, LLC v. Baptist Health System, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and remanded in part the judgment of the trial court upholding the decision of the Retirement Systems's Administrative Review Board affirming the decision of the Kentucky Retirement Systems applying the Ky. Rev. Stat. 61.598, the pension-spiking statute, to assess actuarial costs to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO), holding that the Retirement Systems erred in part.The Kentucky Retirement Systems assessed the costs because it found a JCSO employee took unpaid leave for two months, causing a temporary decrease in gross compensation in that year, but then returned to his earlier pay. The circuit court agreement with the Retirement Systems, finding that section 61.598 as applied was not arbitrary. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) the Retirement Systems improperly applied section 61.598 to the pay spikes to the extent the changes in compensation were caused by an isolated transition in JCSO's new accounting method but properly assessed the increased actuarial costs to the extent it was caused by regular overtime work; and (2) different aspects of the circuit court's decision were erroneous. View "Kentucky Retirement Systems v. Jefferson County Sheriff's Office" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated one of Defendant's convictions on twenty counts of possession of matter portraying the sexual act of a minor, holding that the conviction violated double jeopardy.At issue before the Supreme Court was whether the circuit court erred in denying Defendant's motion for directed verdict on the basis that the Commonwealth failed to prove Defendant knowingly possessed child pornography. The Supreme Court held (1) the Commonwealth produced more than sufficient evidence that Defendant knowingly possessed child pornography on his computer; (2) one of Defendant's convictions was tainted by double jeopardy since it related to an exhibit with the same file name and hash value; and (3) the trial court did not err in granting the Commonwealth's motion to present evidence of uncharged crimes pursuant to Ky. R. Evid. 404(b). View "Bounds v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part a decision of the court of appeals that vacated the orders of the circuit court regarding the adoption and custody of two children, holding that the adoption statutes require that the parental rights of both biological parents be terminated upon the grant of an adoption, with the single exception of a stepparent adoption.Following a hearing, the circuit court terminated the parental rights of the unknown biological fathers of the two children at issue and granted the petition to adopt the children filed by David, who was the former husband of the child's mother. David was not the biological father of the children, but he acted as such throughout their lives. Mother filed a motion to dismiss the adoption petitions based in part on David's lack of paternity. The circuit court terminated the putative fathers' parental rights and allowed David to adopt the children while leaving Mother's parental rights intact. The court then granted David and Mother joint custody of the children. The court of appeals reversed the adoption order and the custody order. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the circuit court's adoption orders violated Kentucky's adoption statutes and must be vacated. View "J.S.B. v. S.R.V." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the Workers' Compensation Board reversing the decision of the administrative law judge (ALJ) granting permanent partial disability benefits (PPD) to Richard Russell but finding that certain medical expenses were submitted untimely and were therefore non-compensable, holding that there was no error.Russell sustained a work-related injury to his right arm and sought workers' compensation benefits. The ALJ found that Russell did not timely submit his medical bills, so they were not compensable, but otherwise granted PPD benefits. The Board reversed, concluding that the medical bills were not submitted untimely. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Russell timely submitted his medical expenses. View "Wonderfoil, Inc. v. Russell" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's convictions on forty counts of possession or viewing of a matter depicting a sexual performance by a minor, seven counts of the use of a minor under sixteen in a sexual performance, and one count of sexual abuse of a minor under twelve, holding that the trial court erred in allowing the Commonwealth to use a great number of unindicted images as Ky. R. Evid. 404(b) evidence.At the end of an investigation, a law enforcement officer found 4,622 images and 1,005 videos of child sexual exploitation material on Defendant's home computer and 925 files of child sexual-exploitation material on Defendant's cell phone. The trial court subsequently convicted Defendant and sentenced him to a total of seventy years' imprisonment. On appeal, Defendant argued that any discussion of images not presented to the grand jury and therefore not subject to indictment should not have been allowed by the trial court. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Defendant's trial was rendered unfair by the Commonwealth's introduction into evidence a number of inindicted images. View "Minch v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court granting Defendant's motion to suppress evidence, holding that substantial evidence supported the trial court's findings of fact and that the court's conclusions of law were legally sound.In granting Defendant's suppression motion, the trial court concluded that there was no reasonable suspicion that Defendant was involved in criminal activity prior to his stop. Because Defendant's consent to search was obtained after his illegal stop, the Supreme Court held that it was the fruit of that illegal stop. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not err in concluding that Defendant was illegally detained without reasonable suspicion. View "Commonwealth v. Perry" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the circuit court concluding that Zurich American Insurance company had a reasonable basis to deny James Nichols' claim for underinsured motorist benefits under a policy issued by Zurich to Nichols' employer, holding that the trial court erred.Zurich issued a commercial fleet policy to Nichols' employer providing underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage with $1,000,000 limits. Nichols was severely injured in an automobile collision and relied on various acknowledgments that the UIM coverage had $1,000,000 limits in settling with the tortfeasor. Zurich denied coverage, and Nichols filed this action to collect under the UIM provision. The trial court denied the motion. The Supreme Court remanded. On remand, Defendant amended his complaint to assert common law bad faith. Zurich settled Nichols' UIM claim for the police limits of $1,000,000, and the trial court granted Zurich's summary judgment motion for summary judgment on the bad faith claims. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Nichols presented sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment on the bad faith claim. View "Nichols v. Zurich American Insurance Co." on Justia Law