Hubers v. Commonwealth
| Decision Date | 24 September 2020 |
| Docket Number | 2018-SC-0667-MR |
| Citation | 617 S.W.3d 750 |
| Parties | Shayna HUBERS, Appellant v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT: Julia Karol Pearson, Adam Meyer, Assistant Public Advocate.
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: Daniel Jay Cameron, Attorney General of Kentucky, Christopher Henry, Assistant Attorney General.
On April 15, 2015, a Campbell County jury convicted Shayna Hubers of the murder of her boyfriend, Ryan Poston. After discovering that a convicted felon served on the jury, Hubers moved for a new trial and the Campbell Circuit Court granted her motion. Her sixteen-day retrial in August 2018 once again ended with Hubers's conviction. The trial court sentenced her to life imprisonment in accordance with the jury's recommendation. Hubers now appeals as a matter of right, raising issues concerning jury selection, her motion to change venue due to pretrial publicity, and the admissibility of various items of evidence. After careful review, we affirm the trial court.
On October 12, 2012, Shayna Hubers called Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and told the dispatcher that she shot her boyfriend, Ryan Poston, in self-defense. According to Hubers, Poston had beaten her and was reaching for a gun. During the call she stated that she "shot him a couple more times just to kill him ... because he was twitching and [she] knew he was going to die anyway and he was making funny noises." Hubers also told the dispatcher that she waited approximately fifteen minutes before calling EMS. The evidence subsequently revealed that she shot Poston a total of six times in his Highland Heights condominium.
As noted, Hubers was originally convicted in April 2015 and sentenced to forty years in prison but the trial court granted her a new trial when it was discovered that a convicted felon had served on the jury. The sixteen-day retrial began on August 8, 2018. After several days of both general and individual voir dire, the jury was seated on August 13, 2018. Specific facts regarding individual jurors that Hubers challenged for cause and the pretrial publicity surrounding the case are discussed infra in the context of her arguments.
The Commonwealth's proof at trial included a video recording of Hubers's interview with police shortly after the shooting. Initially, Hubers requested an attorney, but, unprompted by police, she subsequently spoke at length about the incident in an interview that lasted approximately three hours. In the video, Hubers can be seen dancing around the room and singing at times. She claimed that Poston was "whacked on drugs" and abusive towards her. Prior to the shooting, according to Hubers, he was "throwing [her] around the room like a ragdoll," including against the furniture, onto the floor and into the television. After he threw her around, he sat at the dining table and screamed at her, yelling insults and saying he hated her. Several times she mentioned that she shot Poston in self-defense. She also described Poston as "evil" and said he "deserved it."
According to Hubers, after she shot Poston he fell to the floor and was twitching and making strange noises, so she shot him a few more times to kill him because she "knew he was going to die or have a completely deformed face." She told officers that Poston was very vain and wanted rhinoplasty so by shooting him in the face, she "gave him the nose job he always wanted." Despite her claims of abuse, an officer who examined her at the police station did not find any injuries, other than a bit of discoloration on her shin.
The Commonwealth's theory of the case was that Hubers, a graduate student living in Lexington, shot Poston, a twenty-nine-year old lawyer who practiced in Cincinnati, because he was ending their eighteen-month relationship. Learning that Poston planned to go on a date with another woman that very night contributed to her decision to shoot him.
Chief Bill Birkenhauer1 of the City of Highland Heights Police Department investigated the case and later testified that the crime scene contradicted Hubers's version of events. Although she alleged Poston threw her into the television, Birkenhauer found the television was in place and very dusty, suggesting no one had come in contact with it. Items on Poston's dining table were undisturbed, contradicting her statement that he had been reaching across the table for the gun. While Poston's condominium was somewhat in disarray, his father, who visited the condominium frequently, testified that Poston was a "bit of a slob." According to Chief Birkenhauer, the scene did not reflect any type of a struggle.
At the time of the shooting, Vernon and Doris West lived in the condominium directly below Poston's residence. The Wests testified at Hubers's first trial in 2015. Over Hubers's objection, in 2018 the trial court declared Doris West unavailable by reason of mental infirmity pursuant to Kentucky Rule of Evidence (KRE) 804(a)(4) and allowed the Commonwealth to play the video of Doris's testimony from the first trial. Doris said on the night of the murder she heard two shots, then approximately six seconds later she heard four more shots. She did not hear anyone screaming or yelling prior to hearing the shots. Vernon West testified live at the 2018 trial and stated that he heard two shots, the sound of a person falling, then four more shots. He also did not hear any yelling, thumping or moving around upstairs prior to hearing the shots.
Much of the trial testimony revolved around Hubers and Poston's tumultuous relationship. Their relationship began in March 2011 when Poston requested to connect with Hubers on Facebook. They met in person for the first time in April 2011. Until November 2011, the pair saw each other occasionally and texted frequently, although Hubers sent substantially more text messages to Poston than he sent to her. After November 2011, the couple had multiple break-ups which often lasted for a short period of time. In April 2012, Hubers confronted him about degrading things he apparently said about her to other people. According to Hubers, they had an altercation and Poston picked her up and threw her on the doorstep of his condominium. She also testified that he beat her body repeatedly with the door as she tried to collect her belongings and leave.
There was a break in the parties’ relationship between April and July 2012. When they resumed seeing each other in July, Hubers claimed that Poston placed "conditions" on their relationship, such as requiring her to speak less, to have a hobby while at his condominium, and to participate in sexual acts with him and other women. According to Hubers, Poston degraded her when there were in public together, often commenting on her eating habits and making fun of her.
The Commonwealth introduced the testimony of one of Hubers's friends who recalled text messages she received from Hubers regarding Poston. In one message, sent eleven days before the shooting, Hubers said "When I go to the shooting range with [Poston] tonight, I want to turn around, shoot and kill him, and play like it's an accident." In referencing their shooting range trip to another friend, Hubers said "a part of [her] wanted to turn around and shoot him[.]" Other messages said things like her "love has turned to hate," and "I hate him." She also sent a message to a friend, a practicing dentist, which said Multiple witnesses described Hubers and Poston's relationship as "on again, off again" and tumultuous.
One of Poston's friends testified that he met with Poston shortly before his death. Poston told him he intended to break up with Hubers face-to-face soon, because the other ways in which he tried to end their relationship, like giving hints or sending text messages, had not worked. Poston's friend believed that Poston intended to break up with Hubers the day he was murdered. Additionally, one of Poston's co-workers who worked as a receptionist in his building testified that approximately two weeks before his death Poston walked into the building and seemed sad. When she asked him what was wrong, he asked her "How do you break up with someone that doesn't want to break up with you?" Poston also asked her opinion of men who needed to apply for restraining orders. She further testified that the day he died he came into the building with a smile on his face and was upbeat. He told her that he had a date with a new girl, so the co-worker asked him if he had ended the relationship with Hubers. Poston said they had broken up and he planned to tell Hubers he had a date.
Three women who were incarcerated with Hubers also testified at the 2018 trial – Donna Dooley, Holly Nivens, and Cicely Miller. Donna Dooley testified that Hubers described the murder to her and said before the shooting she threw things around the condominium to be loud and make it appear that Poston was abusing her. Hubers told Dooley that she shot Poston because he wanted her to leave so he could go on a date. Dooley testified that she remembered the conversation because Hubers "had no remorse at all."
According to Holly Nivens, Hubers discussed the case with her and said Poston physically abused her on the night of the shooting. After some time, Hubers admitted that she was the aggressor and that Poston had not abused her. She told Nivens she shot Poston because he was breaking up with her and gave details about that night. Hubers told Nivens that Poston locked himself in the bedroom, apparently to avoid confrontation, but Hubers entered his room by picking the lock with a bobby pin.2 Nivens testified that Hubers told her that on other occasions she would throw things around the condominium to convince neighbors that she and Poston were fighting....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Watts v. Commonwealth
...note that Kentucky courts have consistently denied a change of venue in far more publicized cases than this. See Hubers v. Commonwealth, 617 S.W.3d 750, 773 (Ky. 2020) (substantial news coverage both by local stations and several national organizations, and defendant's police interview was ......
-
Russell v. Commonwealth
... ... qualified." "The central inquiry is whether a ... prospective juror can conform his or her views to the ... requirements of the law, and render a fair and impartial ... verdict based solely on the evidence presented at ... trial." Hubers v. Commonwealth, 617 S.W.3d 750, ... 762 (Ky. 2020) (quoting Wood v. Commonwealth, 178 ... S.W.3d 500, 516 (Ky. 2005)). Generally, "'where ... questions about the impartiality of a juror cannot be ... resolved with certainty, or in marginal cases, the ... questionable ... ...
-
Sexton v. Commonwealth
...Still, "KRE 403 does not offer protections against evidence that is merely prejudicial, in the sense of being detrimental to a party's case." Id. "Evidence only unfairly or unduly prejudicial if it appeals to the jury's sympathies, arouses its sense of horror, provokes its instinct to punis......