Martin v. Com.

• Decision Date: 23 January 2003
• Docket Number: No. 2000-SC-1101-DG.,No. 2001-SC-0675-DG.,2000-SC-1101-DG.,2001-SC-0675-DG.
• Citation: 96 S.W.3d 38
• Parties: Andrew J. MARTIN; Danny Ross; Lon Fields; and Robert Winstead, Appellants/Cross-Appellees, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.
• Court: Supreme Court of Kentucky

96 S.W.3d 38

Andrew J. MARTIN; Danny Ross; Lon Fields; and Robert Winstead, Appellants/Cross-Appellees, v.COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee/Cross-Appellant.

No. 2000-SC-1101-DG.

No. 2001-SC-0675-DG.

Supreme Court of Kentucky.

January 23, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

M. Holliday Hopkins, Louisville, William E. Johnson, Johnson, Judy, True & Guarnieri, LLP, Frankfort, Sheryl G. Snyder, Amy D. Cubbage, Brown, Todd & Heyburn, PLLC, Louisville, Counsel for Appellant/Cross-Appellee Andrew J. Martin.

Thomas L. Osborne, Whitlow, Roberts, Houston & Straub, Paducah, Phillip J. Shepherd, Frankfort, Counsel for Appellant/Cross-Appellee Danny Ross.

Samuel B. Carl, Carl, Head & Triplett, Louisville, Counsel for Appellant/Cross-Appellee Lon Fields.

J. Bart Adams, Alton D. Priddy, Priddy, Isenberg, Miller & Meade, PLLC, Louisville Counsel for Appellant/Cross-Appellee Robert Winstead.

A.B. Chandler, III, Attorney General, Janet M. Graham, Jennifer L. Carrico, Assistant Attorneys General, Criminal Appellate Division, Office of the Attorney General, Frankfort, Counsel for Appellee/Cross-Appellant Commonwealth of Kentucky.

John K. Bush, Christie A. Moore, Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald, PLLC, Louisville, Counsel for Amicus Curiae United States Senator Mitch McConnell(2000-SC-1101-DG).

COOPER, Justice.

This concludes the second chapter of this protracted investigation and prosecution of alleged election campaign finance law violations during the 1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election campaign.In chapter one, we upheld the authority of the grand jury to investigate and return indictments for such violations.Democratic Party of Kentucky v. Graham, Ky., 976 S.W.2d 423(1998).Today, we hold that the statutes under which Appellants now stand indicted are neither unconstitutional as applied nor unconstitutionally vague or overbroad.Whether the alleged conduct of Appellants falls within the coverage of those provisions must await chapter three, for there is no summary judgment procedure in a criminal case in Kentucky.Commonwealth v. Hayden, Ky., 489 S.W.2d 513, 516(1972);Commonwealth v. Hay, Ky.App., 987 S.W.2d 792, 794-95(1998);Commonwealth v. Hamilton, Ky.App., 905 S.W.2d 83, 84(1995).

I.THE STATUTES.

In 1995, the relevant provisions of KRS chapters 121 and 121A provided in pertinent part as follows (words, phrases and provisions deemed by Appellants to render the statutes unconstitutional are designated in boldface print):

KRS 121.015(6):

"Contribution" means any:

(a) Payment, distribution, loan, deposit, or gift of money or other thing of value, to a candidate, his agent, a slate of candidates, its authorized agent, a committee, or contributing organization. ..;

(b) Payment by any person other than the candidate, his authorized treasurer, a slate of candidates, a committee, or a contributing organization, of compensation for the personal services of another person which are rendered to a candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization ...;

(c) Goods, advertising, or services with a value of more than one hundred dollars ($100) in the aggregate in any one (1) election which are furnished to a candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization ... without charge, or at a rate which is less than the rate normally charged for the goods or services;

. . .

(e) Expenditure in connection with any other activity undertaken independently of the activities of a candidate, slate of candidates, committee, or contributing organization made or furnished for the purpose of influencing the results of an election;¹

KRS 121.015(7):

Notwithstanding the foregoing meanings of "contribution," the word shall not be construed to include:

(a) Services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a portion or all of their time on behalf of a candidate, committee, or contributing organization;

. . .

KRS 121.150(1):²

(a) No contribution of money or other thing of value, nor obligation therefor, shall be made or received, and no expenditure of money or other thing of value shall be made or incurred, directly or indirectly, other than an "independent expenditure," ... to support or defeat a candidate [or] slate of candidates .., except through the duly appointed campaign manager, or campaign treasurer of the candidate [or] slate of candidates ....

(b) As used in this section, "independent expenditure" means one made for a communication which expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or slate of candidates ... and which is not made with any direct or indirect cooperation, consent, request, suggestion, or consultation involving a candidate, slate of candidates, .. or agent.³

(c) No candidate, slate of candidates, campaign committee, political issues committee, nor anyone acting on their behalf shall have any communication with another person nor anyone on his behalf regarding that person's making of an independent expenditure on behalf of the candidate [or] slate ... prior to the time the independent expenditure is made.⁴

(d) Any person making an "independent expenditure," as defined in this subsection, shall report these expenditures when the expenditures exceed five hundred dollars ($500) in the aggregate in any one (1) election on a form provided by the registry and shall sign a statement on the form, under penalty of perjury, that the expenditure was an actual independent expenditure and that there was no prior communication with the campaign on whose behalf it was made.

KRS 121.150(12):

No person shall make a payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money to another person to contribute to a candidate, committee, contributing organization, or anyone on their behalf.No candidate, committee, contributing organization, nor anyone on their behalf shall accept a contribution made by one (1) person who has received a payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money from another person to contribute to a candidate committee, contributing organization, or anyone on their behalf.

KRS 121.056(1):

No person who contributes more than the maximum legal contribution established by KRS 121A.050 in any one (1) election to a slate of candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor that is elected to office shall hold any appointive state office or position, which shall be made by gubernatorial appointment, during the term of office following the campaign in which the contribution shall be made.

KRS 121A.050(1):

... Except for independent expenditures, as defined in KRS 121.150(1), no natural person .. shall knowingly make a contribution of more than five hundred dollars ($500) in any one (1) election to a slate of candidates that has filed a statement of intent to accept transfers from the fund and abide by the maximum expenditure limit ....

KRS 121.990(3):

Any person who knowingly violates any of the provisions of .. [KRS] 121.150 to 121.230 ... or KRS Chapter 121A, shall, for each offense, be guilty of a Class D felony.

KRS 121.015(10):

"Knowingly" means, with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or should have been aware that his conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists.

II.THE INDICTMENT.

In 1995, Lieutenant Governor Paul Patton and Dr. Stephen Henry were, respectively, the Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky.Because the slate filed a statement of intent to accept partial public financing of its campaign, it was required to limit its campaign expenditures to a total of $1,800,000, of which $600,000 would be raised by campaign contributions to the slate and $1,200,000 would be paid to the slate by the publicly financed election campaign fund.KRS 121A.030(1);KRS 121A.080(1).AppellantAndrew Martin was the slate's campaign manager.AppellantDanny Ross was a full-time state employee working as a "labor liaison" in Lieutenant Governor Patton's office.AppellantLon Fields was the president of Local 89 of the General Drivers, Warehousemen and Helpers Union ("Teamsters") and secretary-treasurer of Joint Council 94, the local Teamsters political action committee (PAC).AppellantRobert Winstead was secretary/treasurer of Local 89 and recording secretary of Joint Council 94.

On July 18, 1995, Ross resigned his position as the lieutenant governor's "labor liaison" and commenced employment with Joint Council 94 as a "labor coordinator."He was hired to work through December 12, 1995, at a total salary of $20,000, to be paid one-half by Joint Council 94 and one-half by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' Democratic Republican Independent Voter Education Committee(IBT DRIVE), the Teamsters' national PAC.On August 1, 1995, IBT DRIVE forwarded its check for $10,000 to Joint Council 94 as "reimbursement for ½ of Danny Ross salary."Joint Council 94 subsequently assigned Ross to work as a "political liaison" for AFL-CIO locals in Kentucky.Joint Council 94, however, continued to pay Ross's salary.On November 9, 1995, two days after the general election (won by the Patton/Henry slate), Ross resigned his employment with Joint Council 94 and returned to his former position in Lieutenant Governor Patton's office.Shortly after taking office as governor, Patton appointed Fields to the Kentucky Racing Commission a position that gives him access to such perquisites as box seats at the Kentucky Derby, and appointed Winstead to the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, a position that pays him $19,400 per year (in addition to the pay he receives from his regular employment).

The Commonwealth alleges that Ross's real job from July 18 to November 9, 1995, was that of full-time labor coordinator for the Patton/Henry campaign and that Fields and Winstead, at the instigation of Martin and Ross, induced the Teamsters PACs to pay Ross's...