Helmick v. Commonwealth
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In 2024, the Supreme Court of Kentucky reviewed the case of Kory E. Helmick who was convicted by a Greenup County jury of two counts of sodomy in the third degree, one count of sodomy in the first degree, one count of sexual abuse in the first degree, and one count of unlawful use of an electronic communication system to procure a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activity. The victim, J.K., was a minor in foster care who lived with Helmick and Helmick’s husband intermittently from the age of 13 to 15. Helmick appealed his conviction, arguing three points of error: the trial court's denial of his request to postpone the trial, insufficient proof supporting the sodomy in the first degree conviction, and violation of his right to be free from double jeopardy due to convictions for both sodomy in the first degree and in the third degree.
The Supreme Court of Kentucky rejected all three allegations. First, the court found no abuse of discretion by the trial court in denying Helmick's request to postpone the trial. The request was based on the desire to conduct a forensic analysis of the victim's cell phone, but the court found Helmick had ample time to conduct this analysis before the trial and did not provide an affidavit showing the materiality of the evidence expected to be obtained from the phone, which was required for such a request.
Second, regarding the sufficiency of the proof for the sodomy in the first degree conviction, the court found that there was more than a mere scintilla of evidence supporting the conviction. The victim's testimony that he was "incapacitated" and "incapable of moving" due to alcohol intoxication was seen as evidence that he was physically helpless during the sexual abuse, a requirement for a conviction of sodomy in the first degree.
Finally, the court rejected Helmick's double jeopardy claim, finding that his convictions for sodomy in the first and third degrees were based on separate criminal acts and thus did not violate his right to be free from being tried twice for the same offense.
The Supreme Court of Kentucky therefore affirmed the judgment of the Greenup Circuit Court.
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