Clayton Lockaby v. Commonwealth of Kentucky ( 2020 )

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2019-SC-000270-MR
CLAYTON LOCKABY APPELLANT
ON APPEAL FROM LAUREL CIRCUIT COURT
V. HONORABLE MICHAEL O. CAPERTON, JUDGE
NO. 18-CR-00148
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE
MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT
AFFIRMING
Following a one-day trial in 2019, jurors convicted Clayton Boyd Lockaby
of two counts of first-degree sodomy, victim under twelve, and acquitted him of
one count of first-degree sexual abuse, victim under twelve. The Laurel Circuit
Court imposed two life sentences as jurors recommended, ordering them to be
served concurrently.1 Lockaby appeals as a matter of right claiming an unduly
prejudicial portion of his confession should have been redacted; he was denied
a unanimous verdict by an instruction inadequately distinguishing two counts
of sodomy; and, jurors should have been admonished when the victim testified
1 The jury recommended the two life sentences be served consecutively.
1
Lockaby had sexual contact with her “my whole life.” Having reviewed the
record, briefs, and arguments, we affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Lockaby was charged in a twenty-count indictment with ten counts of
first-degree sexual abuse and ten counts of first-degree sodomy, all with a
victim under the age of twelve between the summer of 2011 and the fall of
2013. Prior to trial, the Commonwealth dismissed seventeen counts, leaving
two counts of sodomy and one count of sexual abuse from 2012 to be tried.
In all counts, the victim was a minor female related to Lockaby we will
call “Connie.”2 At the age of twelve in 2017, Connie disclosed to her mother
Lockaby had sexual contact with her. Her mother took Connie to the doctor
where she was examined, diagnosed with a urinary tract infection (“UTI”), and
prescribed medicine.
Soon after disclosing to her mother, Connie made various revelations to a
social worker, launching an investigation of Lockaby. When interviewed by the
social worker, Lockaby learned the nature of Connie’s accusations against him.
He was then interviewed by Kentucky State Police Detective Jesse Armstrong.
After initially denying any wrongdoing, Lockaby admitted touching and
sodomizing Connie multiple times over a course of years. However, he
2 To protect the minor female victim’s identity, we have elected not to reference
her actual name or relationship to Lockaby.
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vehemently denied ever ejaculating into a baggie and having Connie taste his
semen.
During opening statement, the Commonwealth said Connie would testify
about three occasions on which Lockaby abused her in 2012—he touched her;
he performed oral sex on her; and, he made her perform oral sex on him. The
Commonwealth also indicated the entire audio interview in which Lockaby
confessed to sexually abusing and sodomizing Connie would be played at trial.
Defense counsel’s opening statement presented a different story. She
stated this was Lockaby’s first encounter with the law; his admissions to Det.
Armstrong were lies; Lockaby knew Connie had accused him of having sexual
contact with Connie before he spoke with Det. Armstrong; he believed he was
going to prison no matter what he said; and, Lockaby thought he would receive
leniency if he confessed.
At trial, Connie was a thirteen-year-old eighth grader. She described
incidents occurring on three separate days in her direct testimony, but gave no
specific dates. She testified the count of first-degree sexual abuse happened in
2012 when she was a first grader, about six years old, and living with her
family and Lockaby in his trailer. Lockaby was acquitted of this charge and it
requires no further discussion.
The two remaining counts—both charged as first-degree sodomy, victim
under twelve—occurred when Connie was visiting her aunt’s home, where
Lockaby would appear and remain for lengthy periods of time. Connie testified
her aunt and uncle worked at night and would leave for work in the evening.
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About 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., Lockaby would take Connie across the road to a
dilapidated house where there were two mattresses stacked atop one another
and condoms. At the old house, Connie and Lockaby would “get situated” and
he would make her do “stuff to him. Twenty to thirty minutes later, Lockaby
would remove Connie’s pants—leaving her in a shirt—put her legs over his
shoulders and put his mouth on her vagina. Connie said she and Lockaby
often stayed at the old house “half the night” and would return to her aunt’s
home early the next morning. Connie stated she never spent the entire night
in the old house.
After providing a general description of the old house and what
transpired inside, Connie testified about two separate acts of first-degree
sodomy. The first occurred in the fall of 2012 when it was cool outside, and
she was in first or second grade. Connie testified she had gone to bed around
9:00 p.m., Lockaby awoke her, and she accompanied him to the old house.
She was cold, asked for a blanket, and Lockaby gave her one riddled with
holes. Lockaby removed her pants, put her legs over his shoulders, and put
his mouth on her vagina. She then put her mouth on his penis. Connie and
Lockaby returned to her aunt’s home around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.
Connie testified the other charge of first-degree sodomy occurred on a
Sunday in the summer of 2012. It was warm outside, she was at her aunt’s
home, and she was about five or six years old. Connie recalled she wore
shorts, played in her aunt’s pool, had water balloon fights, and played with the
dog. Lockaby arrived and stayed the remainder of the day. Connie testified
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Lockaby waited until all were asleep that night, awakened her, and took her to
the old house where he became “real calm” and started undressing. Connie
also undressed. Lockaby made her place her mouth on his penis. He then put
his mouth on her privates. For the first time, Lockaby made her sit on top of
him near his penis and move. Lockaby also “came inside” a condom and
“started explaining to [her] what everything is.” Around 2:00 a.m., Lockaby
took Connie back to her aunt’s home. Connie confirmed these activities
transpired during the event which occurred the night of the water balloon
fights.
Connie testified Lockaby made her put her mouth on his privates many
times. Within a two-minute span she said, “it happened all the time,” “it was
every time,” and, “I can’t even remember when it started it’s been going on so
long.” None of these statements drew a defense objection. Ten minutes later,
the Commonwealth asked Connie its last question on direct examination—
whether the three instances she had described were the only times sexual
activity with Lockaby had occurred. Connie answered, “No, it’s happened my
whole life. I can’t even remember when it started. He’d come up wanting to
take me to Dollywood. ...” At that point, defense counsel objected under KRE3
404(b), arguing Connie “could not just say it happened all the time” because
jurors were deciding three specific charges, not a series of unspecified acts.
During the bench conference, the trial court offered an admonition that was
3 Kentucky Rules of Evidence.
5
never given. However, as defense counsel argued, the purpose of her objection
was to terminate Connie’s testimony about recurring acts. The trial court
overruled the objection, but the Commonwealth had already ended its direct
examination of Connie, thereby achieving defense counsel’s goal.
Connie’s aunt was called by the Commonwealth. She confirmed her in-
law’s dilapidated and vacant homeplace is located across the road from the
home she shares with her family in Laurel County. She described the old
house as being in “rough” condition, and empty, without any mattresses.
Connie’s aunt said she worked third shift at the cookie factory from “10:00 to
6:00,” but also admitted she was in Drug Court in 2011-2012 and had a 10:00
p.m. curfew, with no work exemption. She further stated she has three adult
children and someone was always home and awake. She did not recall
Lockaby ever being alone with Connie in her home, but admitted she could not
say what happened when she was not home.
Connie’s aunt remembered the kids having water balloon fights at her
home one summer day in 2012, but was unsure of the date. She said Connie
was probably at the pool that day. Though initially unsure if Lockaby was
present, she later testified she was “99 percent certain” Lockaby’s back had
gone out while he was in the pool that day, and he left before dark when his
back pain eased.
The Commonwealth ended its case-in-chief with Det. Armstrong who
introduced Lockaby’s nearly forty-eight-minute interview. Without defense
objection, the Commonwealth began playing the audio recording for the jury.
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Det. Armstrong confirmed Lockaby had been interviewed previously by a social
worker and seemed to know the purpose of his visit. Det. Armstrong told
Lockaby he could stop the interview at any time.
Lockaby began the interview by saying Connie’s mother falsely accuses
him when he upsets her, and he believed she had put Connie up to making the
sexual allegations against him. Later, Lockaby admitted touching and
sodomizing Connie. He estimated it happened six to eight times over three to
four years, but claimed he had not touched her since her ninth birthday.
Lockaby also admitted putting his mouth on Connie’s vagina and having
Connie put her mouth on his penis.
When Det. Armstrong was heard on the interview tape asking Lockaby
whether he had ever asked Connie to do “anything that I would call weird, or
odd or out of the ordinary,” defense counsel objected and approached the
bench. Lockaby was about to vehemently deny ever ejaculating into a baggie
and having Connie taste his semen. Defense counsel argued this portion of the
interview was unduly prejudicial, concerned an uncharged accusation, and
should be redacted. The objection was overruled and the entire interview was
played.
Lockaby testified in his own defense. He asserted Connie’s mother had
disclosed to him her step-grandfather had molested her as a child, an
occurrence confirmed to Lockaby by Connie’s great grandmother. He testified
Connie’s mother had threatened him, and noted the accusations Connie made
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against him mirrored the claims Connie’s mother had previously made against
her step-grandfather.
Lockaby denied ever touching Connie inappropriately. He admitted
going to the dilapidated house twice to strip copper, but for no other reason
and never with Connie. He recalled no water balloon fights, but did remember
his back seizing one day while at the pool, after which family members helped
him to his car and he drove home.
Lockaby testified he had assumed he was going to prison because Det.
Armstrong indicated he believed Connie’s accusations. Lockaby explained he
had lied during the police interview because he thought by confessing he was
doing himself a “favor.’’ Lockaby explained his thought process:
What would you do with a little kid? What would you
do—besides rape 'em and murder 'em—and the only
thing you could do is touch ‘em. If you penetrated ‘em
or anything, they’re damaged for life, so I would just
tell him that I did little things like that... to try to get
some pity—I'll put it that way—and it backfired on me.
When defense counsel asked why he admitted some actions but vigorously
denied the “semen in the condom,” Lockaby responded, “because that is so
despicable.” He also noted Connie’s reference to “semen” mirrored her
mother’s terminology.
On cross-examination, Lockaby proceeded to express his belief Connie’s
mother had encouraged Connie to make false accusations against him—a view
he repeated on redirect. He also reiterated he confessed to Det. Armstrong in a
misguided attempt to minimize punishment.
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Prior to submission of the case to the jury, defense counsel urged the
trial court to include language about “water balloon fights” in Instruction No. 4
(summer of 2012 sodomy) as a means of differentiating the warm night on
which that crime occurred. Instead, the trial court’s instruction referenced the
crime as having occurred “while it was warm outside, and [Connie] did not
request a blanket.” In contrast, Instruction No. 5 (fall of 2012 sodomy) said
that crime occurred “while it was cool outside, and [Connie] requested a
blanket.” Defense counsel maintained the language inadequately separated the
two acts and would deny Lockaby a unanimous verdict.
On appeal, Lockaby alleges three errors require his sentence be vacated.
We disagree and affirm.
ANALYSIS
I. Redaction of Recorded Interview
First, Lockaby argues the trial court erred in not requiring redaction of a
portion of his recorded interview with Det. Armstrong beginning at the point
Lockaby was asked whether he had done anything “weird, or odd, or out of the
ordinary” with Connie. In the interview, Lockaby initially responded by
referencing possible alcohol or drug use, but when Det. Armstrong pointedly
asked if he had ever ejaculated and urged Connie to taste his semen, he
vehemently denied doing so.
Both the Commonwealth and the trial court initially thought defense
counsel was objecting under KRE 404(b)—pertaining to “[o]ther crimes, wrongs,
or acts”—until she clarified she was seeking relief under KRE 403, which reads:
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[a]lthough relevant, evidence may be excluded if its
probative value is substantially outweighed by the
danger of undue prejudice, confusion of the issues, or
misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue
delay, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.
In support of her objection, defense counsel argued the specific accusation that
Lockaby ejaculated into a baggie and had Connie taste his semen was never
charged as a crime; was more prejudicial than probative; and was highly
inflammatory. Specifically, she asserted the conduct—which Lockaby
vigorously denied—was “so inflaming to the average person” it would sway
jurors to convict him.
The Commonwealth disagreed. It noted during opening statement
defense counsel had told jurors Lockaby’s confession resulted from Det.
Armstrong’s pressure tactics; she portrayed Lockaby’s taped confession was a
lie told to curry favor because he believed he was going to prison; and, he had
seen confessions result in lighter sentences on television. The Commonwealth
argued Lockaby’s adamant denial of ejaculating and offering his semen to
Connie, after having confessed to sodomizing and sexually abusing her
multiple times over several years, demonstrated he could distinguish truth
from fiction and had not been pressured into confessing. While agreeing the
conduct Lockaby had so ardently denied was “disgusting,” the Commonwealth
argued it was no worse than the sex crimes he had admitted during the
interview and for which he was standing trial.
Moreover, the Commonwealth noted Connie’s interview with the social
worker—wherein Connie indicated Lockaby had her taste his semen after
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ejaculating—was not played to the jury. Thus, jurors never heard Connie make
the accusation; they only heard Det. Armstrong ask Lockaby whether he had
committed the act, and then Lockaby’s vigorous denial. As a result, the
Commonwealth argued defense counsel’s concern regarding any prejudicial or
inflammatory impact of that portion of the taped interview was overstated.
Defense counsel, however, maintained any probative value was heavily
outweighed by the undue prejudice it would cause.
The trial court rejected defense counsel’s arguments and overruled her
objection. It found Lockaby’s strenuous denial vis-a-vis his admission he
committed the charged crimes demonstrated his ability to differentiate truth
from lies. It also found this dichotomy showed “his will to disavow certain
statements” was not overwhelmed by Det. Armstrong’s allegedly aggressive
interrogation.
We review evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion. King v.
Commonwealth, 554 S.W.3d 343, 358 (Ky. 2018) (citing Goodyear Tire &
Rubber Co. v. Thompson, 11 S.W.3d 575, 577 (Ky. 2000)). The test is whether
the ruling “was arbitrary, unreasonable, unfair, or unsupported by sound legal
principles.” Commonwealth v. English, 993 S.W.2d 941, 945 (Ky. 1999). In
evaluating the ruling, we consider the proof in the light most favorable to the
proponent—here, the Commonwealth—giving the words “its maximum
reasonable probative force and its minimum reasonable prejudicial value.”
Major v. Commonwealth, 177 S.W.3d 700, 707 (Ky. 2005). Finally, in
“determining the admissibility of other crimes [or acts] evidence[]” we consider
11
its “relevance, probativeness, and prejudice.” Southworth v. Commonwealth,
435 S.W.3d 32, 49 (Ky. 2014) (citing Robert G. Lawson, The Kentucky Evidence
Law Handbook § 2.25(11) (3d ed.1993)) (brackets in original).
When applying KRE 403, a trial court balances “three factors: the
probative worth of the evidence, the probability that the evidence will cause
undue prejudice, and whether the harmful effects substantially outweigh the
probative worth.” Yates v. Commonwealth, 430 S.W.3d 883, 897 (Ky. 2014)
(citing Barnett v. Commonwealth, 979 S.W.2d 98, 100 (Ky. 1998)). Exclusion is
appropriate “[w]hen the possibility of undue prejudice outweighs the probative
worth of the evidence presented[.]” Id. at 897.
Relevant evidence tends “to make the existence of any fact that is of
consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable
than it would be without the evidence.” KRE 401. Irrelevant evidence is
inadmissible. KRE 402.
Based on the foregoing legal authority, we hold Lockaby’s entire interview
was relevant, probative and not unduly prejudicial. His staunch denial of
ejaculating into a baggie and having Connie taste his semen stood in stark
contrast to his admission of other sex crimes. These vastly different responses
established he was willing and able to admit some, but not all, of Connie’s
allegations. It also negated any reasonable notion Det. Armstrong had
pressured him into confessing. Without this single vigorous denial, Lockaby’s
claim of breaking under police pressure and lying to receive a lighter sentence
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may have been more plausible. However, we hold the subject matter was
probative and relevant to the jury’s deliberations.
While Det. Armstrong’s asking Lockaby whether he had ejaculated and
urged Connie to taste his semen did not paint Lockaby in a positive light,
neither did his own admission of sodomizing Connie on multiple occasions.
Without objection, Connie testified Lockaby “came inside” a condom and began
“explaining . . . everything” to her at the old house the night of the sodomy act
linked to the summer of 2012. Because defense counsel did not object to
Connie’s testimony regarding Lockaby’s ejaculation and sexual explanation, the
purpose of her objection must have been to prevent the jury from hearing any
accusation by Connie that Lockaby had her taste his semen. Though
overruled, defense counsel’s timely objection achieved its purpose.
Contrary to Lockaby’s argument, we hold the trial court properly
balanced the evidence and determined Lockaby’s vigorous denial was neither
unduly prejudicial nor overly inflammatory. We discern no abuse of discretion
and no error.
II. Unanimous Verdict
Second, Lockaby argues he was denied a unanimous verdict by the
absence of a unique identifier in Instruction No. 4 to ensure all jurors convicted
him of the same crime. He correctly asserts criminal conviction by a jury
requires a unanimous verdict. Cannon v. Commonwealth, 291 Ky. 50, 163
S.W.2d 15, 16 (1942) (interpreting Section 7 of Kentucky Constitution). He
then cites Ruiz v. Commonwealth, 471 S.W.3d 675, 678 (Ky. 2015) to maintain
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Instruction No. 4 had to mention “water balloon fights” because Connie
testified fights occurred in the afternoon prior to Lockaby sodomizing her on
the summer night in 2012.
We review alleged instructional errors for an abuse of discretion. Sargent
v. Shaffer, 467 S.W.3d 198, 203 (Ky. 2015). While alleging a specific date is
one way to pinpoint a particular crime, a child sexual abuse victim often
cannot, and indeed need not, specify the date on which a particular offense
occurred. It is enough if the child can provide a “distinct factual basis for each
separate charge” from which jurors may “determine in each instance whether a
separate criminal offense had been committed.” Miller v. Commonwealth, 77
S.W.3d 566, 576 (Ky. 2002) (citations omitted).
Connie could not provide specific dates, but she did give compelling
detailed descriptions of two separate acts of sodomy.
As this Court has stated on many occasions, we follow
the bare-bones principle in jury instructions. See,
e.g., Harp v. Commonwealth, 266 S.W.3d 813, 819 (Ky.
2008). “[J]ury instructions should tell the jury what it
must believe from the evidence in order to resolve each
dispositive factual issue while still ‘providing enough
information to a jury to make it aware of the respective
legal duties of the parties.’” Id. (quoting Olfice, Inc. v.
Wilkey, 173 S.W.3d 226, 229 (Ky. 2005)). “In criminal
cases, instructions ‘should conform to the language of
the statute,’ and ‘[i]t is left to the lawyers to “flesh out”
the “bare bones” in closing argument.”’ Wright v.
Commonwealth, 391 S.W.3d 743, 746-47 (Ky. 2012)
(quoting Parks v. Commonwealth, 192 S.W.3d 318, 326
(Ky. 2006)).
Crabtree v. Commonwealth, 455 S.W.3d 390, 413 (Ky. 2014).
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Instructions must conform to both the applicable statute, McGuire v.
Commonwealth, 885 S.W.2d 931, 936 (Ky. 1994), and the indictment. Hunter
v. Commonwealth, 239 S.W.2d 993 (Ky. 1951). Here, KRS4 510.070(l)(b)(2)
specifies a person commits first-degree sodomy by engaging in deviate sexual
intercourse with a person who cannot validly consent because she is under the
age of twelve. Thus, for a child victim, the statute has two elements—deviate
sexual intercourse and the victim’s age. Further, Count 10 of the indictment
alleged:
... on or about Summer of 2012 in Laurel County,
Kentucky, the above named [sic] defendant, acting
alone or in concert with others committed the offense
of Sodomy in the first Degree by engaging in deviate
sexual intercourse with [Connie] through the use of
forcible compulsion on a child under the age of 12
years old[.]
Thus, the indictment sets forth the “Summer of 2012” as the distinguishing
element of this specific act. Contrary to Lockaby’s argument, water balloon
fights are neither set forth as a required element under the applicable criminal
statute nor referenced within the indictment. As such, no mention of “water
balloon fights” in Instruction No. 4 was required. Moreover, the
Commonwealth proved both statutory elements occurred on the warm summer
night in 2012.
As argued by the Commonwealth, mentioning “water balloon fights” in
the instruction would have added an element jurors did not have to believe to
4 Kentucky Revised Statutes.
15
convict. Lockaby’s defense was not, “I did not sodomize Connie the day of the
water balloon fights,” it was, “I never sodomized Connie.” Jurors could have
disbelieved water balloon fights occurred but believed Lockaby sodomized
Connie in the summer of 2012. In conformity with Crabtree, it was proper for
the trial court to provide a bare-bones instruction and allow counsel to “flesh
out” the specifics during closing argument.
Additionally, Lockaby’s reliance on Ruiz as requiring reversal is
misplaced. In Ruiz, a failure of proof resulted in flawed instructions and denial
of a unanimous verdict. Ruiz was charged with three counts each of first-
degree sexual abuse and first-degree sodomy. The victim, Ruiz’s six-year-old
stepdaughter, testified at trial but did not “isolate and identify any individual
episode of sexual abuse or sodomy that would relate the specific crime to the
instructions to be given to the jury.” Ruiz, 471 S.W.3d at 679. Instead, the
child
testified that on many occasions within the five-month
period, [Ruiz] took her into his bedroom and subjected
her to various forms of sexual contact, including anal
sodomy, forcing her to perform oral sodomy on him,
and forcing her to touch his penis.
Id. at 677. When the instructions were prepared, drawn from the child’s
generalized testimony about “multiple indistinguishable instances of sexual
abuse and . . . sodomy,” id. at 678, there were
no distinguishing descriptions that would fairly
apprise the jury of exactly which criminal episode it
was charged to consider. Without an instruction to
channel the jury’s deliberation, the jury was left to
16
adjudicate guilt on any or all of the vaguely alleged
incidents, resulting in a verdict of doubtful unanimity.
Ruiz, 471 S.W.3d at 679. As a result, in Ruiz, there was “no assurance that
each of the jurors were focused upon the same occurrence when they cast their
respective guilty votes.” Id. at 678. Although unpreserved, this Court deemed
the flawed instructions and resulting denial of a unanimous verdict
“jurisprudentially intolerable.” Id. at 679. Thus, the conviction was reversed
and remanded for a new trial on multiple grounds.
Lockaby’s case is distinguishable from Ruiz. It does not suffer from the
same defect. Connie’s testimony was not general, it was specific and detailed,
alleging distinct crimes on separate days, peppered with unique facts about
each. In constructing the separate instructions for Connie’s two sodomy
allegations, the trial court included adequate details from which the jury could
reasonably distinguish the crimes. A full litany of distinguishing facts need not
be incorporated into a jury instruction, nor must a particular fact urged by the
defense be included. Ruiz merely requires each instruction to provide jurors a
reasonable means of delineating one crime from another when multiple crimes
are charged. As noted in Ruiz, the potential for a nonunanimous verdict occurs
only when the proof “equally suggests the commission of two or more similar
crimes[.]” Id. at 678.
Unlike the facts of Ruiz, there could be no confusion between
Instructions No. 4 (summer of 2012) and No. 5 (fall of 2012) in the present
case. Regarding the former, Connie referenced many occurrences on that
17
summer day in addition to water balloon fights, including: while at her aunt’s
house she played in the pool; she wore shorts; it was warm outside; she played
with the dog; Lockaby “came inside” a condom and started explaining things to
her; and, for the first time, Lockaby made her sit on top of him. Based on
Connie’s testimony, Instruction No. 4 read, in pertinent part,
[Lockaby] engaged in sexual intercourse with [Connie]
while it was warm outside, and she did not request a
blanket.
Regarding the latter, Connie described the temperature as being “kinda
cool,” and recalled asking for a blanket when Lockaby took her to the old house
and him giving her a blanket full of holes. She also recalled having worn blue
jeans that day with slip-on shoes, a shirt, and vest. In fact, a photo of her
wearing that outfit was introduced as Commonwealth’s Exhibit 2. Based on
Connie’s testimony, Instruction No. 5 read, in pertinent part,
[Lockaby] engaged in deviate sexual intercourse with
[Connie] while it was cool outside, and she requested a
blanket.
The trial court’s bare-bones, but descriptive, language in Instructions No.
4 and 5 adequately “channeled] the jury’s deliberation” and distinguished the
two acts of sodomy being tried. Ruiz, 471 S.W.3d at 679. As expressed in
Miller, 77 S.W.3d at 576,
[w]hether the issue is viewed as one of insufficient
evidence, or double jeopardy, or denial of a unanimous
verdict, when multiple offenses are charged in a single
indictment, the Commonwealth must introduce
evidence sufficient to prove each offense and to
differentiate each count from the others, and the jury
must be separately instructed on each charged
offense.
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We hold Lockaby was convicted by a unanimous jury of the two separate
charges of sodomy in conformity with the above-quoted directive. There is no
basis for reversal.
III. Impossibility Defense
Third, in addition to arguing lack of a unanimous verdict—the claim
preserved by trial defense counsel—on appeal, Lockaby also attacks the trial
court’s exclusion of any reference to “water balloon fights” from Instruction No.
4 relative to his defense of impossibility. On appeal, Lockaby argues this
omission rendered the instruction incomplete and omitted facts “raised by the
evidence and material to his defense[.]” Hayes v. Commonwealth, 870 S.W.2d
786, 788 (Ky. 1993). Citing “VR: 2/6/19; 4:43-20-4:48:00,” he claims the
issue is preserved. The Commonwealth concedes sufficiency of Instruction No.
4 was preserved by objection at trial but does not address this particular
aspect of Lockaby’s argument in its brief. We deem this part of Lockaby’s
argument relating to Instruction No. 4 to be unpreserved.
At trial, Lockaby never argued the instructions failed to incorporate his
defense of impossibility. Instead, defense counsel’s sole stated purpose in
asking the trial court to include “water balloon fights” in Instruction No. 4 was
to ensure juror unanimity—a matter we have previously addressed. We will
not entertain a new argument for the first time on appeal. Knott County Bd. of
Educ. v. Patton, 415 S.W.3d 51, 56 (Ky. 2013) (citations omitted).
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IV. Admonishment
Fourth, Lockaby argues the trial court failed to admonish jurors
when the Commonwealth asked Connie if the three sex crimes she had
described were the only times Lockaby touched her, and Connie had replied
that Lockaby’s sexual acts had “happened my whole life.” Defense counsel had
objected, arguing the Commonwealth was eliciting prior bad acts to prove
Lockaby was “acting in conformity therewith” and thereby “bolstering” other
proof in violation of KRE 404(b). During the ensuing aforementioned bench
conference, however, defense counsel explained the basis of her objection,
saying:
I mean, I just want it to be clear to the jury that they’re
to decide whether these three specific events that we’re
talking about are what happened and not find him
guilty on “Oh, it happened all the time.”
I objected because I thought [the Commonwealth] was
asking more questions. I didn’t want [Connie] to give
any more details, any more evidence, and he is
stopping, so.
And I just want to make myself clear, when I came up
to argue, it was “I want her to stop now. Not, I want to
strike old things.”
At one point during the bench conference, defense counsel accepted the trial
court’s offer of an admonishment. Following further discussion, however, when
the trial court ultimately overruled her objection, defense counsel did not
reassert any desire for an admonition, and none was given.
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Even so, defense counsel obtained her desired relief. Based on defense
counsel’s explanation, it is clear she simply wanted to end Connie’s direct
i
testimony about Lockaby’s sexual proclivity. Though her objection was
overruled, the Commonwealth had asked its last question of Connie.
Therefore, defense counsel received the desired result. We discern no abuse of
discretion and therefore, no error.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we hereby affirm the judgment of the Laurel
Circuit Court.
All sitting. All concur.
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT:
Emily Holt Rhorer
Assistant Public Advocate
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE:
Daniel Jay Cameron
Attorney General of Kentucky
Thomas Allen Van De Rostyne
Assistant Attorney General
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