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Rogers v. Commonwealth9/26/2002
TO BE PUBLISHED
REVERSING AND REMANDING
I. INTRODUCTION
A Jefferson Circuit Court jury found Appellant guilty of Murder, First-Degree Robbery, and First-Degree Burglary, and recommended that Appellant serve concurrent prison sentences totaling thirty (30) years. The trial court entered judgment in accordance with the jury's verdict, and Appellant thus appeals to this Court as a matter-of-right. After oral argument and a review of the record, we reverse the judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court and remand this case for a new trial because the trial court erred when it: (1) prohibited Appellant from introducing evidence concerning the circumstances under which Appellant made his incriminating statements; and (2) failed to instruct the jury as to the law of voluntary intoxication and lesser-included criminal homicide offenses justified by the evidence.
II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
On March 17, 1995, Mark Buchter ("Buchter") was found bludgeoned to death in his home in the Portland area of Louisville. An autopsy revealed that Buchter: (1) died as a result of blunt force cranial injuries suffered when he was struck on the back of his head eighteen (18) times with a blunt instrument of linear composition; (2) was also stabbed several times, most likely with the same instrument; and (3) had defensive wounds on his hands and arms.
Following an investigation by the Louisville Police Department, a Jefferson County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Appellant with Murder, First-Degree Robbery, and First-Degree Burglary. Appellant entered a plea of not guilty to the indicted offenses, and the matter was tried before a jury. At trial, the Commonwealth introduced no physical evidence linking Appellant to the crime scene, and relied upon Appellant's confession to Louisville Police Department officers and separate incriminating statements allegedly made by Appellant to Rhonda Anderson ("Anderson") and her daughter, Wendy. Although Appellant did not testify at trial, he defended against the charges by arguing, that: (1) he falsely confessed to involvement in the crimes only because he, a mentally-retarded eighteen (18) year old, was overwhelmed by the interrogation process and wished to please the authority figures who were performing the interrogation; (2) the other evidence in the case contradicted the details of Appellant's confession, suggesting that Appellant had been coached; (3) Anderson was untruthful when she testified that Appellant admitted his involvement in the crimes; and (4) Appellant was at home, asleep in his bed with his wife, when these crimes occurred.
At trial, Anderson testified that she overheard Appellant tell her daughter not to worry because "They'll never find out who did it." According to Anderson, when she asked Appellant what he was talking about, Appellant told her that: (1) he and three (3) others - Jason Lewis ("Lewis"), Mary Beth Stocking (Lewis's girlfriend), and Rickie Montgomery ("Montgomery") robbed Buchter, but did not mean to kill him; (2) the robbery got out of hand when Buchter began screaming and Appellant then began hitting Buchter with a lug-wrench; (3) Montgomery, Lewis, and another person (described as a "black guy") also began hitting Buchter; and (4) they then ran out of the house, down an alley, and Appellant threw the wrench away. Anderson testified that Montgomery, Mike Meredith ("Meredith"), and Brandy Harris ("Harris") were present when Appellant made these statements to her. Anderson's daughter corroborated her mother's statement at trial by testifying that she overheard Appellant's incriminating statements to her mother and that Meredith, Harris, and some other people were also pre
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