Hall v. Commonwealth, 2012–SC–000423–MR

• Decision Date: 20 August 2015
• Docket Number: 2012–SC–000423–MR
• Citation: 468 S.W.3d 814
• Parties: Berry Hall, Appellant v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Appellee
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

468 S.W.3d 814

Berry Hall, Appellant

v.Commonwealth of Kentucky, Appellee

2012–SC–000423–MR

Supreme Court of Kentucky.

RENDERED: AUGUST 20, 2015

COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT: Emily Holt Rhorer, Assistant Public Advocate

COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: Jack Conway, Attorney General of Kentucky, David Wayne Barr, Assistant Attorney General

OPINION OF THE COURT

Appellant, Berry Hall, was found guilty but mentally ill of murdering Lisa and Alan Tackett by shooting them and wantonly endangering their four children. The facts surrounding the shootings were largely undisputed, and the primary issue at trial related to Hall's affirmative defense of insanity and alternative claim of extreme emotional disturbance.

On appeal, Hall challenges his convictions on numerous grounds, including that extremely gruesome crime scene and autopsy photos of the victims were improperly admitted, and that he was entitled to a directed verdict on four first-degree wanton endangerment counts. The Court finds that the directed verdicts were properly denied but that the improper admission of excessive highly prejudicial photographs requires Hall's convictions be reversed and the case remanded for a new trial on all charges.

I. Background

On March 20, 2008, Berry Hall was sitting on a couch in the living room of his Floyd County home. His then-wife Charlotte,¹ their three adult sons (Matt, Tony, and Bobby), and Matt's girlfriend (Darcy Hicks) were also present. It was Charlotte's birthday. At some point, a dog belonging to the Halls' neighbors, Alan and Lisa Tackett,² wandered onto the Halls' porch. Charlotte shooed the dog off the porch, and Lisa, who was in the yard next door, responded that Charlotte had no right to chase away her dog when the Halls had goats running around in her yard. A loud argument ensued between Lisa and Charlotte in front of the Halls' home. Matt and Darcy also became involved in the spat. Charlotte eventually called the sheriff, who advised Charlotte to ignore Lisa. Hall was not involved in the verbal altercation.

Some time later, Hall went upstairs to his bedroom, which had a window looking down onto the front of the Tacketts' home. Lisa Tackett was standing in front of her home. Hall took out his .30–06 deer rifle with scope and began firing out the window. He shot Lisa Tackett in the left side of her chest. Responding to the gun shots, Alan Tackett walked to the front porch. Hall shot Alan twice through the storm door, and he collapsed in the doorway. The Tacketts' four children were somewhere inside the house at the time of the shootings, and they did not come outside until after all three shots were fired.

Charlotte and Matt found Hall in the upstairs bedroom lying on the bed and holding the rifle. Matt had Hall hand him the rifle, which he placed in a corner of the room, and they went downstairs. Hall assisted in removing the children from the Tacketts' house. 911 was called.

When Kentucky State Police Detective Chris Hicks and Trooper Eric Gibson arrived at the scene, Hall was checking Lisa's pulse. They asked Hall what had happened, and he admitted to shooting the Tacketts.³ Detective Hicks cuffed Hall, read him his rights, and placed him in the back of his cruiser. Three spent .30–06 shell casings were recovered from Hall's front left pocket.

Lieutenant Shawn Welch interviewed Hall at the scene. A recording of the interview was played for the jury. Hall recalled the verbal altercation and then stated, “I can't handle the screaming and hollering and stuff. I just can't handle it. I can't handle it. I can't handle it. I can't handle it.” Hall sobbed and rocked back and forth during the interview, and Lieutenant Welch told him to calm down. When asked what happened after the yelling, Hall responded, “I don't know. I just went upstairs and got the damn gun and shot her. I don't understand. I don't know what the fuck I was doing.” Hall then admitted to firing three shots from upstairs inside his house, once at Lisa Tackett and then twice at Alan Tackett when he came to the porch. Hall was also asked about any medical concerns, and he responded, “I have nerves, and I can't tolerate being around people. That's why I can't hold a job.” He stated that he took medications “for trying to control [his] temper and [his] nerves and stuff” at the direction of Dr. Charlie Hieronymus. He said he took nerve pills three times a day and another pill once in the evening, and these were supposed to calm him down so he could “tolerate people.”

Dr. Jennifer Schott performed the autopsy on Lisa. She testified at trial that the cause of death was a gunshot wound

to the torso, and explained that the bullet entered through the left breast and traveled through internal organs before becoming lodged in the right chest wall without exiting the body. After Dr. Schott provided this testimony, the Commonwealth introduced several autopsy photographs of Lisa, and Dr. Schott described the contents of the images.

Dr. Cristin Rolf performed Alan's autopsy. She testified that the cause of death was gunshot wounds

to the head, torso, left arm, and hand, resulting in significant brain and skeletal injuries.⁴ Dr. Rolf explained, in detail, the results of her autopsy, including the specific mechanisms of injury. As with Dr. Schott, the Commonwealth then introduced through Dr. Rolf several autopsy photos of Alan and had the medical examiner repeat her testimony describingthe injuries while referencing the actual images.

The defense theory at trial was that Hall, who had numerous stressors in his life at the time of the shooting and suffered from low intellectual functioning and major depression

, had “snapped” and thus acted under temporary insanity, which would have required an acquittal, or alternatively that he acted under extreme emotional disturbance, which would have required conviction of the lesser offense of first-degree manslaughter. See KRS 507.030(1)(b).

To this end, the defense presented extensive lay and expert medical testimony, along with medical records, about Hall's history of mental illness. Since at least 2003, Hall had received treatment from a family physician, Dr. Charlie Hieronymus, for depression and anxiety. During the intervening years, Hall was prescribed various psychiatric medications. Family members and neighbors testified generally that Hall's appearance and mental state had been gradually declining for many months leading up to the shootings. He had many stressors in his life, including having a troubled marriage, being unemployed, and relying on his children for support. Evidence also showed that Hall exhibited low intellectual functioning. In addition, evidence was presented of a striking family history of mental illness.⁵

Dr. Hieronymus started Hall on Prozac

in December 2007. Hall did not follow up with Dr. Hieronymus again prior to the shootings. Dr. James Walker, a forensic neuropsychologist, and Dr. David Street, a professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt School of Medicine, testified to the potential adverse effects Prozac can have in certain people affecting their behavior and decision making. Their diagnoses included major depressive disorder and borderline intellectual functioning. Dr. Street opined that the stressors in Hall's life, his major depression, starting Prozac, and his low intelligence had combined to make him very susceptible to snapping, and he had thus been impaired in his ability to behave in conformance with the law.

The jury was instructed on intentional and wanton murder and first-degree manslaughter under extreme emotional disturbance (EED) as a possible lesser-included offense as to both Lisa and Alan Tackett. The jury was also instructed on four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment related to the four Tackett children. In addition, the jury was instructed on insanity as a defense under KRS 504.020 as well as the option of finding the defendant guilty but mentally ill under KRS 504.120 and 504.130. The jury ultimately found Hall guilty but mentally ill of both counts of intentional murder and the four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.⁶

Hall now appeals to the Court as a matter of right. See Ky. Const. § 110 (2)(b). Additional facts will be developed as needed in our analysis below.

II. Analysis

A. The trial court's admission of the prosecution's entire offer of 28 crime scene and autopsy photographs was prejudicial error.

The Commonwealth introduced a 10 minute police video documenting the crime scene and a total of 43 crime scene and autopsy photographs, 28 of which were admitted over objection.⁷ Hall argued to the trial court, and maintains on appeal, that the contested photographs were needlessly cumulative, introduced with the intent to inflame the passions of the jury, and lacked probative value that was substantially outweighed by their prejudicial nature. This Court agrees in part.

The nature and content of the 28 crime scene and autopsy photos is indispensible to our analysis, in part because some of the images are very graphic, while others are not. Detailed descriptions of the images are thus necessary.

The first photograph, Exhibit 12,⁸ is a view of the Tacketts' front yard and porch from a distance. It shows Lisa's body, lying face up, at the foot of the porch steps. It also shows Alan's body, partially hidden from view, lying on the porch. To the left of Alan's body, an open storm door, with shattered glass, is partially obscured by a porch column. No blood, soft tissue, or other specific evidence of injury is discernable. Exhibit 13 is a photo of the same scene but taken approximately 20 to 30 feet closer to the house. Exhibit 14 is also focused on Lisa's body from a similar distance but was taken from an angle approximately 45 degrees to the right of Exhibit 13.

Exhibit 15 is another photo taken directly in front of the house at a distance somewhere between that of Exhibits 12 and 13. It was taken from a lower vantage point than the...