Justia Kentucky Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals denying Plaintiff's petition for a writ of mandamus to direct Judge Stockton Wood of the Fleming Circuit Court to issue various orders in her favor, holding that a writ of mandamus was inappropriate.Plaintiff filed a third amended complaint against radiologists and health care providers alleging medical negligence, spoliation, abuse of process, obstruction of justice, and other claims. During a two-month period the trial court entered fourteen separate orders. Plaintiff sought a writ of mandamus directing the court to issue orders in her favor. The court of appeals denied the petition for a writ of mandamus. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that an adequate remedy by appeal existed for each of the errors Plaintiff alleged. View "Johnson v. Honorable Stockton Wood" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the holding of the Workers' Compensation Board that the Administrative Law Judge properly found that Plaintiff's claim for workers' compensation benefits was barred by the applicable statute of limitations, holding that there was no error.Plaintiff received a workplace injury and filed a claim for benefits. Plaintiff never sought or received any temporary total disability benefits prior to the applicable statute of limitations expiring. The insurance adjuster for the employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier offered to settle Plaintiff's claim, but the parties never reached a settlement agreement. Plaintiff later filed an application for resolution of his claim, but the employer denied the claim on the grounds that it was time barred. The ALJ found that the claim was not timely under Ky. Rev. Stat. 342.185. The Board affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the ALJ properly determined that equitable principles did not warrant the tolling of the statute of limitations. View "Davis v. Blendex Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the circuit court granting summary judgment in favor of State Farm Fire and Casualty Insurance Company in the underlying personal injury case, holding that there was no error.Bessie Perkins began caring for the children of Donald and Julie Thomas and Jeffrey and Elizabeth Renner in the summer of 2015. That fall, the Renner child was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. Thereafter, the Thomas child was diagnosed with two leg fractures. The parents brought a negligence action against Bessie and Jerry Perkins. State Farm, as the Perkinses' insurer, filed an intervening complaint arguing that the Perkinses' behavior implicated the "child care services exclusion," relieving State Farm of liability. The circuit court entered a declaratory judgment in favor of State Farm as to both sets of plaintiffs, finding that the child care services exclusion applied. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the policy was unambiguous and reasonable. View "Thomas v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the court of appeals excluding from the definition of a "motor vehicle" or "trailer" a horse-drawn wagon for insurance coverage purposes, holding that the insurance policy was unambiguous and did not violate Plaintiff's reasonable expectations when she purchased her motorcycle coverage.While driving her motorcycle, Plaintiff encountered a horse-drawn buggy. The horse became spooked and jumped into oncoming traffic, gravely injuring Plaintiff when she collided with the horse. Plaintiff's motorcycle was insured by Progressive, and neither the driver of the buggy nor his father carried any form of insurance. Progressive denied Plaintiff's claim under the uninsured motorist provision of her motorcycle coverage on the grounds that a horse-drawn wagon was not covered under the policy. The circuit court granted Progressive's motion for summary judgment. The court of appeals affirmed, concluding that the horse-drawn wagon did not qualify as a "motor vehicle" or "trailer of any type" under the policy terms. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Plaintiff's assertions on appeal were unsupported. View "Davis v. Progressive Direct Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals vacating an arbitration award and affirmed the circuit court's denial of the motion to vacate the arbitrator's award, holding that the court of appeals exceeded the statutory basis for vacating the award.After she purchased a home, Plaintiff initiated an arbitration proceeding against Defendants, the seller of the home as well as two real estate agents, seeking to recover damages or to rescind the purchase contract. The arbitrator concluded that Plaintiff could not, as a matter of law, prevail on her breach of contract and rescission claims. Plaintiff filed a petition seeking to vacate the arbitration decision pursuant to the provisions of Ky. Rev. Stat. 417.160. The circuit court denied the petition. The court of appeals reversed and remanded for a new arbitration. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the arbitrator did not exceed his powers. View "Booth v. K&D Builders, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court's order that Defendant forfeit $3,759 in cash that law enforcement officials seized the day Defendant and her co-defendant were arrested, holding that the trial court's forfeiture order was not erroneous.In reversing the forfeiture order, the court of appeals concluded that the Commonwealth failed to establish slight traceability of the funds to drug-trafficking activities. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial court did not clearly err in determining that sufficient facts existed to establish slight traceability of the money to drug activity and raising the presumption of forfeiture, and did abuse its discretion in determining that Defendant failed to rebut the statutory presumption of forfeiture. View "Commonwealth v. Doebler" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court vacated the order of the circuit court denying Appellant's petition for a writ prohibiting the Jefferson Circuit Court from enforcing its order allowing the use of a root-cause analysis report (RCA) at trial for impeachment purposes, holding that the RCA was privileged.At issue on appeal was whether Ky. Rev. Stat. 311.377, as amended, protected the RCA from being admitted at trial. The trial court concluded that the RCA could be used at trial for the purpose of impeachment. Appellant sought a writ of prohibition, but the court of appeals denied the petition. The Supreme Court reversed and granted a writ prohibiting the circuit court from enforcing its order permitting the admission of the privileged material for impeachment purposes, holding that where this case concerned the potential violation of an applicable privilege, the certain special cases exception was met. View "Jewish Hospital v. Honorable Mitch Perry" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the opinion of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the circuit court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant pursuant to Kentucky's Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act (UCSPA) and dismissing Plaintiff's bad faith claim as barred by the statute of limitations, holding that the complaint was untimely.Plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident and settled his dram shop liability claim against Pure Country, LLC, an establishment insured by United States Liability Insurance Company (USLI). Several years after settling, Plaintiff brought a bad faith claim against USLI under the UCSPA. The circuit court concluded that the action was untimely and granted summary judgment for Defendant. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the trial court correctly determined that the bad faith claim against USLI was barred by the statute of limitations; and (2) the USCPA claim was not saved by relation back to an earlier filed or proposed pleading. View "United States Liability Insurance Co. v. Watson" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court held that the amendments that the legislature made in 2017 to Ky. Rev. Stat. Chapter 109 to give home rule cities located in a county containing a consolidated local government certain rights with respect to the waste management district in the county did not comply with the requirement of Kentucky Constitution Section 156a.At issue on appeal was whether the legislature's amendment to Chapter 109 in HB 246 (the Act) complied with the requirement of Section 156a, which permits the legislature to classify cities on certain bases but requires that all legislation relating to cities with a certain classification shall apply equally to all cities within the same classification. The circuit court concluded that the balance of Act was unconstitutional. The court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that Sections 1, 3 and 4 of the Act violated Kentucky Constitution Section 156a. View "Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government Waste Management District v. Jefferson County League of Cities, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of sodomy in the first degree and rape in the first degree and his sentence of seventeen years' imprisonment, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below.On appeal, Defendant sought clarification of the application of the exceptions to Ky. R. Evid. 412's general prohibition of evidence of a sexual nature pertaining to the victim of alleged sexual misconduct under the circumstances of this case. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the residual exception of Rule 412(b)(1)(C) is reserved for exceptional and unanticipated circumstances, and because this case presented neither exclusion was appropriate; and (2) the trial court's exclusion of the proffered evidence did not deprive Defendant of his right to present a meaningful defense or constitute a violation of the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. View "Powers v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law