Justia Kentucky Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed the opinion of the court of appeals, which affirmed the decisions of the Workers’ Compensation Board and the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) holding that Kathy Prichard was entitled to reopen her workplace injury claim almost seven years after her initial award of workers’ compensation benefits but within four years of a subsequent order granting her additional disability benefits. The court held (1) Prichard’s motion to reopen was timely filed within the four-year limitation period contained in Ky. Rev. Stat. 342.125(3); and (2) Prichard demonstrated through objective medical evidence a change in her disability indicating a worsening of her impairment, as required for reopening a claim under section 342.125(1)(d). View "Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Prichard" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of murder and first-degree arson and sentencing him to two concurrent terms of life imprisonment. Contrary to Defendant’s arguments on appeal, the Supreme Court held (1) Defendant was not entitled to a directed verdict based upon the “inherent unbelievability” of the Commonwealth’s principal witness; (2) because Defendant failed to demonstrate prejudice, the trial court did not err by denying Defendant’s motion for a mistrial based on a news report broadcast by a television station about the trial; and (3) the trial court properly addressed the prosecutor’s improper comment during closing argument. View "Ross v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of manslaughter in the second degree and tampering with physical evidence. The court held (1) the trial court and the court of appeals erred in their respective applications of the adoptive admission exception to the hearsay rule, leading those tribunals to the erroneous conclusion that Defendant’s silence was an adoptive admission of guilt, but the error was harmless; and (2) the prosecutor improperly explained to the jury the adoptive admission rule, but no manifest injustice resulted from the error. View "Moss v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the circuit court denying the University of Louisville’s (U of L) immunity against suit in this case. After Mark Rothstein’s Distinguished University Scholar (DUS) contract was terminated, Rothstein filed suit against U of L for breach of a written contract. The circuit court denied U of L’s argument that sovereign immunity barred Rothstein’s claims for breach of the written contract, finding instead that Ky. Rev. Stat. 45A, which waives immunity for breach of contract actions against the Commonwealth, was applicable to written employment contracts. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the legislature has waived immunity for all claims arising out of lawfully authorized written contracts with the Commonwealth and its agencies. View "University of Louisville v. Rothstein" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court affirming the district court’s dismissal of this action filed by Big Sandy Regional Jail Authority against the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government seeking reimbursement for the cost of housing prisoners held pursuant to warrants issued by Fayette County courts. The district court dismissed the case after finding that the Urban County Government was entitled to sovereign immunity. The circuit court affirmed without addressing the issue of sovereign immunity, finding, rather, that the county of arrest controls responsibility for incarceration costs. The Supreme Court affirmed, but on different grounds, holding that the Urban County Government was not responsible for the costs of incarcerating prisoners not in its possession. View "Big Sandy Regional Jail Authority v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of robbery in the first degree, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, and use of drug paraphernalia. The court held (1) the trial court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion in liming to exclude eyewitness identification testimony that was not the product of state action; (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying Defendant’s last-minute motion for a continuance; and (3) the joint trial of Defendant’s robbery and drug-related charges was not prejudicial. View "Jeter v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the circuit court dismissing Appellants’ appeal of a Georgetown-Scott County Planning Commission for lack of jurisdiction. The Planning Commission had approved a plat amendment requested by a developer to remove a planned lake from the development plan applicable to Appellants’ subdivision. Appellants appealed. The circuit court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over the matter because Appellants had not strictly complied with the provisions of Ky. Rev. Stat. 100.347 by taking their appeal within the statutorily-allotted time period. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellants failed to commence their action before the expiration of the time allotted by section 100.347(2). View "Isaacs v. Caldwell" on Justia Law

The court of appeals did not err in reversing the circuit court’s judgment that Anne Talley and Daniel Paisley were to share equally in the proceeds of sale of their jointly owned real property based on their respective ownership percentages and irrespective of Paisley’s discharge of mortgage liens encumbering the property.After Paisley and Talley sold their jointly owned residence, Paisley proposed that the proceeds be divided based on the parties’ proportionate contribution and to reflect that he had contributed more to the residence. The trial court ordered the equity in the residence to be divided equally between the parties. The court of appeals reversed, holding that, as a matter of law, Paisley was entitled to be proportionately reimbursed by Talley for payments he made during their joint tenancy. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that, under Kentucky law, joint tenants are entitled to proportionate reimbursement for the payment of liens and other encumbrances on the property. View "Talley v. Paisley" on Justia Law

In this appeal, intervening statutory law enacted by the General Assembly rendered moot the legal issues decided by the circuit court.Here, the circuit court sustained the Attorney General’s challenge to Governor Matthew Bevin’s authority under Ky. Rev. Stat. 12.028 to abolish and reorganize the University of Louisville Board of Trustees and permanently enjoined the Governor from implementing executive orders issued in connection with his effort. The Supreme Court dismissed the Governor’s appeal and remanded the case to the circuit court with directions to dismiss the complaint with prejudice, holding that newly enacted Senate Bill 107 controls over section 12.028. The case is moot because Senate Bill 107 provides a specific statutory path for a governor to disband and reconstitute a university’s governing board and creates a process for the removal of individual members of a university’s governing board. View "Bevin v. Beshear" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the opinion of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court’s order denying Appellants’ separate motions to suppress evidence. As grounds for their motions, Appellants claimed that law enforcement officers violated the curtilage of their apartment when they entered the back patio enclosure and that the officers lacked any exigencies to enter the apartment and conduct the search. The trial court ruled that the protective sweep exception, the emergency aid exception, and the plain view exception all justified the warrantless search. The court of appeals affirmed on different grounds, concluding that none of the exceptions relied upon by the trial court excused the warrantless search but that a second search was conducted pursuant to Appellants’ valid consents, thus purging the taint of the officers’ initial illegal search. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the officers’ initial warrantless search of Appellants’ apartment was illegal; (2) the officers were unlawfully located on Appellants’ patio when they viewed marijuana baggies; and (3) Appellants’ consent to a subsequent search was not an act of free will sufficient to dissipate the taint of the initial illegal search. View "Pace v. Commonwealth" on Justia Law