Parham v. Com.

• Decision Date: 07 March 1975
• Parties: Jackie PARHAM, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

Page 327

520 S.W.2d 327

Jackie PARHAM, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

March 7, 1975.

Charles M. Chaney, Weisenberger, Chaney, Daughaday & Sharp, Mayfield, for appellant.

Ed W. Hancock, Atty. Gen., Douglas E. Johnson, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Frankfort, for appellee.

STERNBERG, Justice.

On January 10, 1973, Jackie Parham was indicted by the grand jury of Graves County, Kentucky, for having committed the offense of arson as denounced in KRS 433.030 and the offense of shooting at with intent to kill as denounced in KRS 435.170. On June 16, 1974, appellant was arrested and placed under bond. Subsequent to the swearing in of the trial jury and immediately prior to the Commonwealth's opening statement to the jury, the offense charged under KRS 435.170 was, on motion of the Commonwealth's Attorney, dismissed by the court. On July 24, 1974, appellant was tried and convicted of arson and sentenced to serve two years in an institution under the supervision of the Department of Corrections. On this appeal it is charged that:

(1) The evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction; and

(2) The Commonwealth failed to prove the value of the 1964 Ford Thunderbird automobile that was burned.

Appellant and Charles Glover, the person whose automobile was burned, are former brothers-in-law. Appellant and Charlie's sister were formerly married, but the marriage terminated in divorce. After the divorce Jackie has openly expressed hostility toward Charlie and threatened him and his automobile.

On December 24, 1972, at about 7:00 p.m., Charlie and his family were attending religious services at the Rhodes Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Lynnville, Kentucky. The services were interrupted by a neighbor calling out 'fire'. The worshipers hurried from the church and it was soon discovered that Charlie's car was aflame. It was burning so hard on the inside that it was impossible to salvage any of the personal property that was inside the car or in the trunk. The contents and the car were totally destroyed. The condition of the car as it was immediately after the fire was shown by four photographs that were admitted into evidence and passed to the jury for their perusal. Witnesses testified that Jackie was driving his car up and down the road in the neighborhood of the church earlier in the night; that immediately after the fire Jackie's car was found wrecked on a culvert or in a small ditch 200 or 300 feet from the fire;...