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Putty v. Commonwealth11/16/2000
RENDERED: OCTOBER 26,2000
TO BE PUBLISHED
OPINION OF THE COURT
AFFIRMING
Appellant Bernard Keith Putty was convicted in the Hopkins Circuit Court of four counts of criminal solicitation of the murder of his father-in-law, Gary Clark, and was sentenced to confinement in the penitentiary for a total of thirty years. He appeals to this Court as a matter of right. Ky. Const. § 110(2)(b). At trial, the Commonwealth introduced evidence, largely obtained from Appellant, himself, that Appellant and Clark were part of a criminal syndicate and that Appellant's motive for soliciting Clark's murder was that Clark had either threatened or agreed to inform law enforcement authorities about the criminal activities of the syndicate. Appellant claims on appeal that (1) a written plea agreement with respect to his involvement in the syndicate granted him immunity from prosecution for these charges; (2) the same plea agreement precluded the admission into evidence of sworn statements which he made pursuant to that agreement; and (3) evidence of his involvement in the syndicate and of the fact that Gary Clark was, indeed, murdered was irrelevant and should have been suppressed.
I. FACTS.
Appellant and his wife, Amy Clark Putty, Amy's father and stepmother, Gary Clark and Norma Aragon Clark, Norma's brothers, Reuben Aragon and Tony Trevino Aragon, and numerous other persons were engaged in a criminal operation in which they purchased large quantities of marijuana in Texas and transported it to Hopkins County, Kentucky, for resale. For some time prior to October 1995, this criminal syndicate had been the subject of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force, and the Madisonville, Kentucky, Police Department. However, these agencies had been unsuccessful in either penetrating the syndicate or obtaining sufficient proof to make an arrest.
In September 1995, while Gary Clark was incarcerated in the Hopkins County Detention Center in Madisonville on domestic violence charges brought by his wife, he telephoned Appellant and threatened to "rat out" the whole marijuana syndicate if he was not released from jail. Clark was subsequently released, but was rearrested on October 23, 1995 on contempt charges, again related to domestic violence alleged by his wife. On October 27, 1995, Clark contacted FBI Agent Bill Frank by telephone and offered to provide information about the marijuana syndicate. Frank interviewed Clark at the Hopkins County Detention Center on October 30, 1995, and obtained substantial information concerning the activities of the syndicate, including Appellant's involvement in its criminal activities. Clark was released from custody on November 29, 1995. Ten days later, he was found dead from a gunshot through the center of his forehead.
On October 31, 1995, two Hopkinsville, Kentucky, police officers were shot and seriously wounded by Reuben Aragon and Tony Trevino Aragon after stopping the brothers on suspicion of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (DUI). The Aragons escaped. Knowing of the Aragon-Clark-Putty connection, law enforcement officers questioned Appellant and his wife in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of the Aragon brothers. During that interview, a detective with the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force advised Appellant that the police were close to indicting him and offered him a "deal" in exchange for his cooperation against the other syndicate members. Appellant indicated he would contact a lawyer and consider the offer. On January 23, 1996, Appellant and his wife, their attorney, and the Commonwealth's attorney for Hopkins C
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