Kentucky Supreme Court Decisions 2018

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of first-degree assault, first-degree sexual abuse, and first-degree unlawful imprisonment and sentence of sixty years as a persistent felony offender, holding that any…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this fraud and professional negligence case the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals that a $80 million punitive damage award was unreasonable and reinstated the trial court’s award, otherwise…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court remanded this matter to the circuit court with directions to reinstate a default judgment granted to Bingham Greenebaum Doll, LLP and J. Richard Kiefer (collectively, Bingham) against Meredith Lawrence…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s denial of Defendant’s post-conviction motion requesting that the trial court declare him to be intellectually disabled, which would preclude the imposition of the death…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals applying provisions of the Kentucky Fairness in Construction Act (KFCA) to void an entire dispute resolution process contained in the parties’ sewer…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals upholding the circuit court’s approval of Ray Thomas’s future periodic payments to DRB Capital, LLC in exchange for an immediate lump sum payment at a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court dismissing Plaintiff’s personal injury action, holding that the trial court and the Court of Appeals did not err in their respective analyses of the matter as to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the opinion of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the circuit court rendering a verdict in favor of Plaintiff on her tort action against Defendant, holding that the circuit court…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this medical malpractice action, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court in favor of Jewish Hospital Medical Center South and reinstated the circuit…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals vacating Defendant’s sentence as a persistent felony offender (PFO) in the first degree to ten years’ imprisonment in connection with his conviction of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals affirming the judgment of the circuit court ordering that the results of blood alcohol tests obtained by the police be suppressed, holding that no statutory…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions of first-degree robbery, kidnapping, third-degree burglary, and of being a first-degree persistent felony offender and sentence of fifty years’ imprisonment, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court adopted the Exoneration Rule, the majority rule across the nation providing that a criminal defense attorney may not be sued for legal malpractice in a case resulting in the conviction of his or her…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court finding the two children in this case to be neglected children and the court’s order requiring in-home supervision…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Auto-Owners Insurance Company on Lee Comley’s complaint seeking payment from Auto-Owners…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court dismissing Plaintiff’s claim against the heirs of the Decedent seeking to enforce a judgment lien against real…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the circuit court and held that third-place finisher Karen Faulkner was not entitled to appear on the November 6, 2018 ballot for the election for the District Court Judge of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court granting summary judgment to Plaintiffs on their suit challenging the validity of Senate Bill 151 (SB 151), holding that the passage of SB 151 did not comply…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the circuit court did not err in enforcing Deed of Restrictions for Woodlawn Estates Subdivision Section II by granting judgment in favor of Don Hensley against Keith Gadd and JHT Properties,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that because the Medical Review Panel Act, Ky. Rev. Stat. 216C delays access to the courts of the Commonwealth for the adjudication of common-law claims, chapter 216C violates Section 14 of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court dismissing constitutional challenges to the validity of the Kentucky Right to Work Act, 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 1, 15, holding that the trial court did not err. In…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether the former Mayor of the City of Audubon Park and individual members of the City Council were personally liable for excess sanitation funds generated by a monthly assessment for the stated purpose of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory appeal from the circuit court’s review of an agency ruling, the Supreme Court adopted the United States Supreme Court’s test for standing as set forth in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment against Plaintiffs in this insurance dispute, holding that summary judgment was improper. Plaintiffs…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court, after a jury trial, in favor of Appellant on her claim that she was wrongfully terminated from her employment…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court’s denial of Appellant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea, holding that a conflict of interest did not exist when Appellant’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of Defendants, jail personnel, on this wrongful death suit alleging that an inmate died…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was the implications of the statutory language found in Ky. Rev. Stat. 186A.220 to the sale of a vehicle that was involved in an accident that killed both Jonathan Elmore and Craig Armstrong. Charles Armstrong…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant’s conviction of first-degree murder but affirmed his remaining convictions and sentences, holding that several errors on the trial court in this case affected the propriety of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the trial court’s denial of Defendants’ motion for summary judgment based on their claims of qualified immunity, holding that Defendants,…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was various statutory amendments to the Kentucky Affordable Prepaid Tuition Fund (KAPT) contracts previously purchased by Appellants. The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court concluding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Plaintiff failed to meet the standard for judicial reversal of the Kentucky Retirement System (KERS) Board’s administrative decision to deny Plaintiff disability retirement benefits and thus…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was the role of the courts on judicial review of a final decision of the Kentucky Retirement Systems (KERS) as to a KERS member’s entitlement to disability retirement. A hearing officer recommended granting…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeal reversing the circuit court’s interlocutory judgment concluding that Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) properly exercised its power of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of two counts of murder, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, tampering with physical evidence, and being a first-degree…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this visitation dispute was whether the trial judge’s questioning of a teenage boy exceeded the bounds of Ky. Rev. Stat. 403.290(1). Father had physical custody of the parties’ two sons when Mother pursued…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this eminent domain action challenging the just compensation paid for property to be taken, the Supreme Court reversed the order of the court of appeals dismissing this appeal for failure to name an indispensable…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied the Commonwealth’s petition for a writ to prohibit enforcement of a trial court’s order authorizing the use of public funds for the procurement of private-expert assistance in William Meece’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant’s convictions of two counts of murder and sentence of life without the possibility of parole for twenty-five years, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by proceeding…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue before the Supreme Court in this interlocutory appeal from the circuit court’s review of an agency ruling was whether Kentucky courts can undertake a statutorily created judicial review of an administrative…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the opinion of the court of appeals upholding the circuit court’s dismissal of this action alleging that a child’s developmental delays were caused by a doctor’s negligence in the mother’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the court of appeals granting in part the Presbyterian Church’s petition for a writ to prohibit the trial court from lifting its stay of discovery in this defamation case, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court’s order denying Employer’s motion to compel enforcement of the arbitration agreement between the parties in this case, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant’s first-degree robbery conviction and sentence, vacated his persistent felony offender (PFO) conviction and sentence, which was predicated upon the underlying first-degree robbery…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the Workers’ Compensation Board’s decision affirming the decision of the administrative law judge concluding that Katherine Rudd was entitled to…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this custody and support action, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing and remanding Laura Smith’s award of attorney’s fees, holding that the trial court acted within its discretion…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of kidnapping with serious physical injury and other offenses, holding that the trial court did not err when it instructed the jury on the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this criminal case, the Supreme Court held that even though evidence of a previous conviction may be prohibited to allow a general attack on the witness’s credibility under Ky. R. Evid. 609(b), evidence of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the circuit court finding C.B.’s daughter to be a neglected child pursuant to the Kentucky Unified Juvenile Code and reinstated…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals granting a Ky. R. Civ. P. 65.09 motion filed by Respondent to compel arbitration, holding that the arbitration agreement between the parties was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated in part the judgment of the Court of Appeals upholding a jury verdict against Appellants in the amount of $1,308,403 in compensatory damages and $2,686,000 in punitive damages, holding that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals reversing the circuit court’s grant of a directed verdict in favor of Norfolk Southern Railway Company on Appellant’s complaint alleging negligence, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to convert court costs to a jail term, holding that Defendant did not properly preserve the imposition for court costs for appellate…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court’s denial of Defendant’s Ky. R. Crim. P. 11.42 motion without a hearing, holding that counsel’s failure to advise a client of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed and remanded Defendant’s conviction for two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and affirmed his conviction for two counts of first-degree sodomy, holding that the jury instructions on the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions of murder, driving under the influence, and first-degree assault and their corresponding sentences, holding that there was no reversible error in the proceedings…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Appellant’s conviction of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, felony possession of a firearm, and being a first-degree persistent felony offender and sentence of twenty years’…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant’s convictions for possession of a controlled substance, first degree, first offense, and for tampering with physical evidence, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute between neighboring landowners over the location of the boundary line between their adjoining properties the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals reversing the circuit court’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the Court of Appeals, holding that Defendant was entitled to a new persistent felony offender (PFO) and sentencing trial because because the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court ruling in favor of Peters Farms, LLC, which sued Ikerd Mining, LLC and Ikerd’s insurer, American Mining Insurance…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the holdings of the circuit court and court of appeals determining that public defenders, as employees of the Department of Public Advocacy (DPA), a statutorily-created agency of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of two counts of trafficking in a controlled substance in the first degree and other drug-related offenses and his sentence of twenty…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of the murder of his four-month-old son and his sentence of life imprisonment, holding that there was no reversible error in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the Kentucky Parole Board’s revocation hearing in this case was an adjudicative function, a discretionary act for which the Parole Board enjoyed absolute immunity from liability for its…

Justia Opinion Summary: On review of the decision of the Court of Appeals reversing a final order issued by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure issued against Appellee, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Court of Appeals…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of complicity to kidnapping, complicity to first-degree assault, and complicity to theft by unlawful taking and sentencing Defendant to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions and sentences for first-degree rape, incest, and first-degree sexual abuse but vacated his conviction for second-degree fleeing or evading and the portion of the trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of complicity to kidnapping, complicity to attempted murder, and complicity to first-degree robbery and sentencing Defendant to a total of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals reversing the circuit court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants in this case alleging that Defendants breached their duties under the Farm…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of two counts of first-degree assault and for being a first-degree persistent felony offender and his sentence of thirty-five years’…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals concluding that the Kentucky Coal Employers Self-Insurers Guaranty Fund was fully responsible for McCoy Elkhorn Coal Corporation’s workers’ compensation…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals dissolving the stay of execution, and thus all collection activity, upon a judgment issued by the circuit court holding that Appellants failed to show…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant on fourteen counts of first-degree robbery and for being a first-degree persistent felony offender. Defendant, along with his…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals determining that Appellant, Auslander Properties, LLC, was an “employer” and thus subject to certain employee safety regulations promulgated pursuant to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Class action is available to plaintiffs seeking recovery under the State’s prevailing-wage law, Ky. Rev. Stat. 337.505-550, and the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in certifying the underlying action for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the opinion of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the circuit court, which denied Defendant’s Ky. R. Crim. P. 11.42 motion without a hearing. Defendant pled guilty to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant on Plaintiff’s complaint, holding that Plaintiff presented a genuine issue of material fact as to his breach of contract claim. Plaintiff…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of four counts first-degree sodomy and one count of first-degree rape and Defendant’s sentence of life imprisonment on each sodomy…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the finding of the district court juvenile session that B.H. was incompetent to stand trial and dismissing the charges against him. B.H. was arrested for first-degree robbery and murder that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Ky. Rev. Stat. 532.130(2), which contains what the Court determined was an “outdated test” for ascertaining intellectual disability, is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the circuit court’s denial of Defendant’s request to decrease his bond and instead increasing it from $10,000 to $20,000 full cash, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Stigma damages are a measure of damages stemming from actual injury to property, but if remediation damages are settled and a claim on the stigma damages resulting from the actual damages is reserved, the injured party…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the trial court declining to award post-judgment interest pursuant to Ky. Rev. Stat. 360.040 in this action concerning a divorce judgment. Karen and James Samuel Doyle (Sam)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals correctly applied the principles of Cincinnati Insurance Co. v. Motorist Mutual Insurance Co., 306 S.W.3d 69 (Ky. 2010), to hold that a contractor’s faulty workmanship on the basement and foundation…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed and vacated Appellant’s conviction and corresponding sentence for tampering with physical evidence but affirmed the trial court as to Appellant’s remaining convictions of murder, first-degree…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court sentencing Appellant to thirty years’ imprisonment for murder and for being a first-degree persistent felony offender. The Court held that the trial court (1)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court’s denial of Appellant’s motion to suppress evidence discovered in his vehicle during a traffic stop, holding that the initial…

Justia Opinion Summary: Life without parole (LWOP) for juveniles does not always offend the federal or Kentucky Constitutions, so long as it comports with a discretionary scheme and the defendant has a meaningful opportunity for the jury to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the circuit court’s entry of a declaratory judgment in favor of Big Sandy Company, LP, interpreting a pipeline easement agreement (the Agreement)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) affirming the decision of the administrative law judge (ALJ) awarding Donald Jobe benefits…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the opinion of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board upholding the decision of the administrative law judge (ALJ), which awarded Michael R. Plumley…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals declining to issue a writ sought by Miki Thompson prohibiting the trial court from enforcing discovery orders entered for inspection and discovery in a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals’ decision to deny a writ of prohibition sought by Miki Thompson in this case alleging that Kara Vance’s suicide was caused by Timothy Lavender’s negligent prescribing of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of raping and murdering Pamela Armstrong and sentencing Defendant to death. The Court held (1) the trial court did not commit reversible…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of criminal attempt to commit murder, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, and tampering with physical evidence and sentencing him…

Justia Opinion Summary: Ky. Const. section 170 does not exempt a qualifying charitable institution from the use tax imposed by Ky. Rev. Stat. 139.310. The Finance and Administration Cabinet’s Department of Revenue, the Board of Tax Appeals,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The court of appeals misapplied the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel standard by failing to consider the totality of the circumstances of Defendant’s case from the perspective of an objectively reasonable trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving an alleged denial of Defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to conflict-free counsel, the Supreme Court held that the trial court correctly denied trial counsel’s motion to withdraw because, under the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Section 115 of the Kentucky Constitution bars the Commonwealth from appealing a judgment of acquittal in a criminal case. Here, the Commonwealth appealed Defendant’s judgment of acquittal on the charge of failing to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The administrative law judge’s (ALJ) findings that Appellant was exposed to MOCA, a curing agent and a known carcinogen, at a TEMA Isenmann, Inc. production facility and that this exposure resulted in an occupational…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals upholding the trial court’s suppression of evidence discovered as a result of a canine sniff search of Defendant’s vehicle during a traffic stop. The Court…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed in part the final judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of three misdemeanors and four felonies and sentencing Defendant to a sentence totaling twenty years’ imprisonment and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this construction dispute, Plaintiff was not entitled to relief on its breach of contract claim or under a quantum meruit theory. Plaintiff and Defendant entered into a subcontract agreement that outlined services…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals in this appeal brought by both parties from a judgment in a paternity action. The Court held (1) a paternity action can be…

Justia Opinion Summary: The scope of appellate review of an interlocutory appeal of the trial court’s determination of qualified official immunity is limited to the specific issue of whether immunity was properly denied. In this interlocutory…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court sentencing Defendant to life imprisonment for murder, first-degree assault, and other crimes and sentencing Defendant to life imprisonment for murder. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained during a traffic stop, holding that the law enforcement officer did not violate Defendant’s right to privacy…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of incest, first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor, use of a minor in a sexual performance, first-degree…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case arising from the 1996 murder of LeBron Gaither, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals that, in the circumstances of this case, the Estate of LeBron Gaither was entitled to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the denial of Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence seized from her vehicle during a traffic stop was proper. In her suppression motion, Defendant argued that the traffic stop of her…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court upheld Defendant’s convictions for three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree, holding that an instructional error did not require vacating Defendant’s convictions. The Court of Appeals…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals reversing Defendant’s sentence and conviction and remanding for a new trial, having determined that Defendant’s guilty plea did not satisfy Boykin v.…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal from a criminal conviction, the Supreme Court vacated the portion of the circuit court’s judgment imposing criminal restitution and otherwise affirmed the judgment of conviction and sentence. Defendant was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The language of Ky. Rev. Stat. 258.235(4) imposes strict liability upon the owner of a dog that attacks and injures a person. Plaintiff sued Defendant after Defendant’s dogs attacked and injured her, relying on section…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court convicting Appellant of murder, criminal attempt to commit murder, and related crimes. The Supreme Court held that the trial court (1) did not err by denying…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a sheriff’s termination of a deputy sheriff was not constrained by the procedural due process protections purportedly afforded to the deputy sheriff under a now-outdated version of Ky. Rev. Stat. 15.520.…

Justia Opinion Summary: A plaintiff may bring a private right of action under Ky. Rev. Stat. 446.070 against an employer for an alleged violation of Ky. Rev. Stat. 341.990(6)(a), Kentucky’s criminal prohibition against making false statements…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals reversing the decision of the Workers’ Compensation Board (Board), which reversed the ALJ’s rejection of Plaintiff’s claim for enhanced benefits and…