| [6] |
Counsel For Appellant: Daniel T. Goyette, Chief Jefferson District
Public Defender, Bruce P. Hackett, Deputy Appellate Public Defender
Counsel For Appellee: A. B. Chandler, III, Attorney General of Kentucky
Kent T. Young, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Appellate Division
Office of Attorney General. |
| [7] |
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Justice Johnstone |
| [8] |
OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE JOHNSTONE. All concur. |
| [9] |
AFFIRMING IN PART, REVERSING IN PART AND REMANDING |
| [10] |
Appellant, Eddie Franklin Hudson, was convicted in the Jefferson Circuit Court of murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He appeals to this Court as a matter of right. We affirm his conviction, but reverse and remand for a new sentencing phase. |
| [11] |
The body of Elizabeth Thompson was found, bound and gagged, in the trunk of her car on June 24, 1996. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled to death. Based on the investigation and the testimony of witnesses who last saw Ms. Thompson alive, it was determined that her body had been in the car for approximately one week. |
| [12] |
During the course of the investigation, Hudson, a friend of Ms. Thompson's, became one of the suspects in her death. On June 25, Hudson went to the police of his own volition, and agreed to speak to a detective after being advised of his Miranda rights. When Hudson was first questioned, he maintained he was at Ms. Thompson's house the last day she was seen alive, but he left after he got angry at Ms. Thompson. After further questioning by authorities, Hudson said he had killed Ms. Thompson, tied her up, and put her body in the trunk of her car. |
| [13] |
He agreed to give a recorded statement to the detective, in which he described the circumstances of Ms. Thompson's death as follows: When he arrived at Ms. Thompson's house on June 17, she had been drinking, which was a source of problems and arguments between the two of them. After arguing outside in the yard, the two went inside the house, where Ms. Thompson began to hit him. He tried to leave, but Ms. Thompson would not let him. He pushed her, and she hit her head on the side of the fireplace. After that, he didn't know what happened, he just "blacked out." He described tying Ms. Thompson up, wrapping her body in a blanket, placing it in the trunk, driving around, parking the car, and throwing the keys away. The recorded statement was admitted into evidence and played for the jury at trial. |
| [14] |
The Commonwealth also presented the testimony of one of Hudson's fellow inmates, who said that Hudson told him he had been arrested for killing a woman with whom he was having an affair. Hudson told the inmate he strangled her because she was going to leave him. |
| [15] |
Hudson raises three issues on appeal: (1) whether the trial court should have instructed the jury on extreme emotional disturbance (EED) as a mitigating factor to intentional murder; (2) whether he was denied a unanimous verdict because the evidence did not support an instruction on wanton murder; and (3) whether the trial court erred by allowing a witness to read from warrants and uniform citations during the penalty phase of the trial. |
| [16] |
I. JURY INSTRUCTION ON EXTREME EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE (EED) |
| [17] |
Hudson first asserts that the trial court committed reversible error in failing to instruct the jury on extreme emotional disturbance (EED). |
| [18] |
Hudson did not take the stand. However, after confessing that he killed Ms. Thompson, Hudson agreed to give a taped statement to the police. This statement was played for the jury. Hudson argues that the evidence contained in the taped statement entitled him to an EED instruction. |
| [19] |
In the statement, Hudson claims that Ms. Thompson was drunk, and that she accused him of having a relationship with a young girl. Later, according to the statement, Ms. Thompson began talking to a "crackhead" and offered him beer. At this point, Hudson became a little upset. Hudson tried to reason with Ms. |
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