Anderson v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 25 August 2011 |
| Docket Number | NO. 09-CR-00113,2010-SC-000205-MR,09-CR-00113 |
| Parties | RONNIE LEE ANDERSON APPELLANT v. COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky) |
TO BE PUBLISHED
ON APPEAL FROM MASON CIRCUIT COURT
A Mason Circuit Court jury convicted Ronnie Lee Anderson of assault in the first degree and found him to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree. Anderson received twenty years imprisonment and appeals to this Court as a matter of right, claiming the trial court committed reversible error by denying his motion for a directed verdict; by failing to suppress statements made during an interview with the police; and by instructing the jury to determine his Persistent Felony Offender (PFO) status before determining the sentence for his assault conviction. For the reasons set forth herein, we reverse Anderson's conviction and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.
On July 26, 2009, Anderson, Andy Ormes and others gathered at a friend's house for a barbecue. Anderson and Ormes got into a fight over Anderson's girlfriend and Anderson cut Ormes's face, along the jawbone, with a straight razor. Ormes later testified at trial, According to Ormes, the resulting gash was over an inch deep and bleeding when he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Joellen Jackson, the charge nurse on duty in the emergency room that day, testified without explanation that she considered Ormes's injury "serious," however, Jackson did not directly treat Ormes and was only peripherally involved in his case.1 Jackson further explained the hospital assigned incoming patients a triage level from one to five, with level one assigned to those "fixin' to die" and level five to those who need to refill a prescription. Another nurse evaluated Ormes and assigned his triage level that day, but Jackson, without consulting Ormes's chart, guessed at trial that Ormes was probably a level two or three. Ormes also had an "excessively high" heart rate, which the treating physician attributed to adrenaline and treated with IV medication. Ormes's carotid artery was notlacerated and the damage was repaired with sutures.2 Ormes was sent home the same day. Ormes claimed he was off work for "a while" after the incident and has sharp pains near the scar "every once in a while." Notably, no medical records from the emergency room admission were introduced at trial and there was no proof Ormes received any additional medical treatment for the injury.
On the night of the incident, police officers took Anderson to the police station for questioning. While waiting in an interrogation room, Anderson had a conversation on his cell phone in which he made several incriminating statements. Shortly thereafter, the investigating officer entered the room, read Anderson his Miranda rights for the first time, obtained Anderson's signature waiving his Miranda rights, and began the interview. Anderson made a motion to suppress his statements to the police as involuntary due to his intoxication. After a hearing on the matter, the trial court entered an order denying the motion, finding that, "although having alcohol on his breath, [Anderson] was clearly not so intoxicated as to make his statements involuntary or untrustworthy." The court pointed out Anderson indicated he understood his Miranda rights, "made coherent statements, had good coordination, answered questions, made appropriate responses and statements, and was otherwise in control of himself."
The jury convicted Anderson of assault in the first degree and found him to be a persistent felony offender in the second degree.3 Adopting the jury's recommendation, the trial court sentenced Anderson to twenty years imprisonment. On a matter of right appeal to this Court, Ky. Const. § 110(2)(b), Anderson claims the trial court erred by denying his motion for a directed verdict, by denying his motion to suppress, and by instructing the jury to determine his PFO status before determining his sentence for assault. We find there was insufficient evidence to convict Anderson of assault in the first degree and accordingly reverse his conviction on that charge and remand for further proceedings.
Anderson claims there was insufficient proof of a "serious physical injury" to convict him of assault in the first degree. This issue was not properly preserved so our review proceeds pursuant to Kentucky Rule of Criminal Procedure (RCr) 10.26, under which relief may be granted for a palpable error that affects a party's substantial rights and results in a manifest injustice.4 Ina criminal case, the Constitution of the United States mandates the government must prove every element of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364 (1970); Miller v. Commonwealth, 77 S.W.3d 566, 576 (Ky. 2002). See also KRS 500.070(1). Failure to do so violate the accused's right to Due Process. In re Winship, 397 U.S. at 364.
To convict Anderson of assault in the first degree, the Commonwealth had to prove Anderson intentionally caused serious physical injury to Ormes by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument; or, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, Anderson wantonly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to Ormes and thereby caused Ormes serious physical injury. KRS 508.010. Under either option, Anderson must have caused a "serious physical injury," which is statutorily defined as a "physical injury which creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes serious and prolonged disfigurement, prolonged impairment of health, or prolonged loss or impairment of the function of any bodily organ." KRS 500.080(15). This statute sets a "fairly strict level of proof which must be met by sufficient evidence of injury." Prince v. Commonwealth, 576 S.W.2d 244, 246 (Ky. App. 1979). While medical proof is not necessary, Brooks v. Commonwealth, 114 S.W.3d 818 (Ky. 2003), it certainly can assist in establishing the seriousness of the injury. When determining whether a defendant caused a "serious physical injury," the issue is not whether there was proof of an act that could cause "serious physical injury." The issue iswhether there was proof of an act that did, in fact, cause "serious physical injury." Commonwealth v. Hocker, 865 S.W.2d 323 (Ky. 1993) (Leibson, J., dissenting). After careful review of the record, we find there was insufficient proof that Anderson caused a "serious physical injury" as defined by the statute.
The only proof presented as to Ormes's injury was that Anderson cut the side of Ormes's face, on the jaw line, with a straight razor, inflicting a laceration that was one inch deep and bleeding. At the hospital, Ormes was given IV medication for his elevated heart rate, which the physician attributed to adrenaline, his laceration was sutured and he was sent home. After the incident, Ormes claimed he was off work for "a while" and has sharp pains in his neck "every once in a while." There was no proof of any subsequent medical treatment attributable to the injury.
In cases where the Court has found serious physical injury, it has required a more exacting level of proof than the evidence presented in this case. In Brooks v. Commonwealth, 114 S.W.3d 818 (Ky. 2003), the Court held the victim, whose neck had been cut with a knife, had suffered a serious physical injury. However, unlike the present case, in Brooks there was evidence of a "substantial risk of death" where the victim' had two long crossing slashes on his neck, stab wounds on the right side of his face and neck, and multiple defensive wounds on both upper extremities. Id. at 824. When emergency technicians reached the victim, a large amount of blood was pooled in his lap and he required close observation after treatment. Id. Similarly, inCommonwealth v. Hocker, 865 S.W.2d 323 (Ky. 1993), the Court found a "substantial risk of death" where the victim sustained a skull fracture, hemorrhaging, and blood clots, which required at least two days of continuous observation and monitoring in the intensive care unit (ICU), followed by six additional days of hospitalization. The Court in Parson v. Commonwealth, 144 S.W.3d 775 (Ky. 2004), considered for the first time what constitutes a "prolonged impairment of health" for purposes of KRS 500.080(15). In Parson, the Court determined substantial, prolonged pain constitutes a "prolonged impairment of health" and found "serious physical injury" under this prong where the victim suffered from headaches, neck pain, lack of range of motion caused by muscle spasms, upper back pain, and numbness in her right arm for five months after a car accident, and continued to have neck pain, for which she was required to take medication regularly, at the time of the trial. Id.
Here, unlike the numerous slashes, cuts, and severe blood loss in Brooks, 114 S.W.3d 818, there was only evidence of a cut on Ormes's jaw and no proof as to the severity of any blood loss. Unlike the critical skull fracture, hemorrhaging and blood clots, which required continuous supervision in the ICU and over a week in the hospital in Hocker, 865 S.W.2d 323, here the laceration on Ormes's jaw was repaired with sutures and he was sent home the same day; there was no proof as to any additional treatment. Unlike the multiple incidents of prolonged pain, lost range of motion and arm numbness, which required long-term medication in Parson, 144 S.W.3d 775, here there was only testimony by Ormes that he was off work for "a while" and has sharppains in the area of the injury "every once in a while." While the scar on Ormes's jaw does constitute a disfigurement,5 it is not...
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