Holland v. Commonwealth, 2014–SC–000033–MR

• Decision Date: 20 August 2015
• Docket Number: 2014–SC–000033–MR
• Citation: 466 S.W.3d 493
• Parties: Micah Holland, Appellant v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Appellee
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

466 S.W.3d 493

Micah Holland, Appellant

v.Commonwealth of Kentucky, Appellee

2014–SC–000033–MR

Supreme Court of Kentucky.

RENDERED: AUGUST 20, 2015

Karen Shuff Maurer, Assistant Public Advocate, Department of Public Advocacy, for Appellant.

Jack Conway, Attorney General of Kentucky, William Robert Long, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Office of Criminal Appeals, Office of the Attorney General, for Appellee.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE VENTERS

Appellant, Micah S. Holland, was convicted in the Christian Circuit Court for the wanton murder of his first cousin, Joey Weatherwax. He was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. As grounds for relief, Appellant contends that trial court erred by: (1) instructing the jury on the charge of wanton murder, or alternatively, failing to direct a verdict on the wanton murder charge; (2) refusing to clarify for the jury the meaning of the word, “wantonly,” as used in the jury instructions; (3) excluding proffered evidence concerning the victim's predisposition towards violence; (4) improperly instructing the jury on the issue of self-protection; and (5) denying his request for an instruction on extreme emotional disturbance. Appellant further claims that if any single error is insufficient to warrant the reversal of his conviction, the cumulative prejudice resulting from multiple errors requires us to reverse his conviction. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellant and Weatherwax grew up together amidst a large, extended family in the Christian County area. The record discloses that both Appellant and Weatherwax suffered from mental and emotional issues for which they were prescribed medications, and that both experienced difficulties with alcohol and illegal drug use. More significantly, Appellant's wife, Christina, had previously been married to Weatherwax, and this led to ongoing animosity between the two.

Various events foreshadowed the present trouble, including an altercation in Clarksville, Tennessee, between Appellant and other family members, which led Appellant to believe that his family members were “all against him.” On a different occasion, Appellant complained that Weatherwax and other family members had loosened the lug nuts on the wheels of his car and cut his brake or power steering lines. On yet another occasion, Weatherwax allegedly asked his grandmother for money to buy ammunition so that he could shoot Appellant.

During the late night hours of September 8, 2012, and the early morning hours of September 9, 2012, another cousin, Kyle Cherry, hosted a gathering at his residence that was attended by several family members, including Weatherwax. In the hours preceding this event, Appellant and Weatherwax engaged in several acrimonious telephone conversations during which each made threats against the other. In the last of these conversations, Appellant indicated that he was on his way to confront Weatherwax. Weatherwax encouraged Appellant to do so, and then armed himself with a two-by-four board to await Appellant's arrival.

As Appellant arrived, Weatherwax ran toward his vehicle armed with the two-by-four. Appellant fired a shot from his open car window; the bullet struck Weatherwax, who collapsed on the road with the board at his feet. As he fled from the scene, Appellant ran over Weatherwax. The official cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound to the chest.

Appellant was charged with murder. At trial, he declined to testify and called no witnesses. His defense, based upon principles of self-protection, was presented through cross-examination of the Commonwealth's witnesses and trial counsel's arguments to the jury. The trial court instructed the jury that it could find Appellant guilty of murder if it believed he acted either wantonly or intentionally in causing Weatherwax's death. The jury found Appellant guilty of wanton murder.

II. THE INSTRUCTION ON WANTON MURDER WAS WARRANTED BY THE EVIDENCE

Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the charge of wanton murder. He contends that all of the evidence adduced at trial indicated that he intentionally shot Weatherwax and that he acted deliberately to protect himself from Weatherwax's imminent attack. In Appellant's view, the evidence supported only two possible verdicts: not guilty by reason of self-protection, or guilty of intentional murder. Accordingly, he contends that the trial court erred by instructing the jury on wanton murder. To the same end, he argues that the trial court should have directed a verdict on the wanton murder charge. We do not agree.

With respect to Appellant's claim that a directed verdict on wanton murder should have been granted, leaving the jury to consider only the charge of intentional murder, we note as we have in the past that a motion for a directed verdict is not the proper means “for obtaining any relief short of complete acquittal.” Trowel v. Commonwealth, 550 S.W.2d 530, 531 n.1 (Ky.1977). Appellant does not claim that he was entitled to a directed verdict of total acquittal; he concedes that the Commonwealth presented sufficient evidence to justify an intentional murder instruction. Therefore, the appropriate avenue of relief was to object, as Appellant did, to the giving of an instruction on wanton murder. “When the evidence is insufficient to sustain the burden of proof on one or more, but less than all, of the issues presented by the case, the correct procedure is to object to the giving of instructions on those particular issues.” Kimbrough v. Commonwealth, 550 S.W.2d 525, 529 (Ky.1977). We have no further need to discuss the directed verdict aspect of Appellant's argument, and so we turn our attention to the allegation of instructional error.

It is well established that “[i]n a criminal case, it is the duty of the trial judge to prepare and give instructions on the whole law of the case, and this rule requires instructions applicable to every state of the case deducible or supported to any extent by the testimony.” Taylor v. Commonwealth, 995 S.W.2d 355, 360 (Ky.1999) ; see also RCr 9.54(1). To ascertain whether the jury instruction on wanton murder was proper, “we must ask ourselves, construing the evidence favorably to the proponent of the instruction, whether the evidence would permit a reasonable juror to make the finding the instruction authorizes.” Springfield v. Commonwealth, 410 S.W.3d 589, 594 (Ky.2013).

The crime of murder may be committed by one acting intentionally (KRS 507.020(1)(a) ), or wantonly (KRS 507.020(1)(b) ). Neither form of murder is a lesser included offense of the other; each is an alternative form of the same offense. Ordway v. Commonwealth, 391 S.W.3d 762, 795 (Ky.2013). See also Smith v. Commonwealth, 737 S.W.2d 683, 689 (Ky.1987) ( “[T]he offense of murder may be committed with either of two culpable mental states, intentional or wanton.”). It is, however, worth noting that we have held that “[a]n instruction on a lesser included offense is appropriate if, and only if, on the given evidence a reasonable juror could entertain a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt on the greater charge, but believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the lesser offense.” Osborne v. Commonwealth, 43 S.W.3d 234, 244 (Ky.2001). By the same reasoning, it follows that if the evidence is such that a reasonable juror could have a reasonable doubt about whether a defendant acted with the intention of causing the victim's death and at the same time believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant acted wantonly, an instruction on wanton murder would be proper.

Appellant concedes that the evidence could support a verdict of intentional murder in the event the jury rejected his self-protection defense. He argues, however, that a reasonable juror could not, from the evidence presented at his trial, reasonably believe beyond a reasonable doubt that he acted wantonly. To act “wantonly” with respect to another's death, one must be “aware of and consciously disregard[ ] a substantial and unjustifiable risk that [death] will occur.... The risk must be of such nature and degree that disregard thereof constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation.” KRS 501.020(3). In addition, however, to return a verdict of wanton murder, the jury must further find that the defendant's conduct “create[d] a grave risk of death to another person.” KRS 507.020(b).

Applying the above standards to the evidence in this case demonstrates the propriety of the trial court's instruction on these alternate forms of murder. As Weatherwax charged toward Appellant's vehicle wielding a two-by-four, Appellant fired a single shot from the window of his car. He then ran his vehicle over Weatherwax in the process of fleeing from the scene. As related by those present at the shooting, Appellant's state-of-mind during the critical moments could not be precisely gauged. Appellant did not testify or otherwise present direct evidence of his objectives during the incident, and so the jury was left to infer his state-of-mind based upon the totality of the evidence presented.

Certainly, “[a] defendant may be presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of his act, and thus a jury is entitled to find an intent to cause death from an act of which death is a natural and probable consequence.” Smith v. Commonwealth, 737 S.W.2d 683, 688 (Ky.1987). And so, while the jury could have readily inferred that Appellant intended to kill his cousin, the proof of such an intention was not so compelling as to negate all other possibilities. “[W]hether a defendant actually has an intent to kill remains a subjective matter ... neither the inference nor the presumption of intent are mandatory.” Hudson v. Commonwealth, 979 S.W.2d 106, 110 (Ky.1998). A reasonable juror could easily have believed from this evidence that Appellant had no specific intent to...