Todd v. Com.
| Citation | 511 S.W.2d 239 |
| Parties | Gary N. TODD, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee. |
| Decision Date | 01 March 1974 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky) |
Thomas D. Shumate, Shumate, Shumate & Flaherty, Richmond, for appellant.
Ed. W. Hancock, Atty. Gen., Robert L. Chenoweth, Asst. Gen., Frankfort, for appellee.
CATINNA, Commissioner.
Gary N. Todd was indicted for the offense of murder and convicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter with his punishment being fixed at three years' imprisonment.
Todd contends that the judgment should be reversed because (1) the trial court admitted hearsay evidence of a highly prejudicial nature, and (2) the court should have granted his motion for a directed verdict.
At about 10 p.m. on February 23, 1973, Alex Combs, Joyce Church, and Nancy Conley went to Todd's apartment which he occupied in Berea . They visited until approximately 1 a.m., during which time they consumed a pint of bourbon and danced. There is some evidence that Todd and Nancy engaged in some slight argument.
Todd testified that just a few minutes after the parties had left, Nancy returned and asked if he would permit her to stay in the apartment for a short while as Alex and Joyce wanted to be alone. He granted her permission to do so, showed her how to lock the door when she left, and then went to bed and fell asleep. At about 3:15 a.m., he was aroused by someone shaking him and, in what he claimed was a half-awake and terrified condition, he picked up a pistol he had on the bed and shot. The bullet that killed Nancy passed through her eye and head, richocheted off a picture frame on the wall, and broke an electric light bulb which was hanging down from the ceiling in the bedroom. Todd immediately called an ambulance. Nancy was found lying on the floor beside the bed, fully clothed, except for her shoes which were found under a coffee table in the living room.
Upon the trial Alex Combs and Joyce Church testified that they left Todd's apartment first and got into the car and waited for Nancy to come out. Joyce testified that when Hancy came out 'she came over and said that she was going to stay if that was all right.' Alex Combs testified that 'she came out and told us that Gary had asked her to stay.' Combs did not see Nancy reenter the apartment; however, Joyce testified that she saw her go back through the door. Todd claims that this evidence was not only hearsay but highly prejudicial. The statements to which...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Blankenship v. Com.
...See Scruggs v. Commonwealth, Ky., 566 S.W.2d 405 (1978), cert. denied 439 U.S. 928, 99 S.Ct. 314, 58 L.Ed.2d 321 (1978); Todd v. Commonwealth, Ky., 511 S.W.2d 239 (1974); The Kentucky Evidence Law Handbook, Finally, appellant argues that the court erred by failing to reopen the case, after ......
-
Scruggs v. Com.
...of trustworthiness, where they are relevant to an issue in the case, and the declarant is dead or otherwise unavailable. Todd v. Commonwealth, Ky., 511 S.W.2d 239 (1974). In the instant case the verbal statements and the contents of the written note were hearsay. To be admissible they must ......