William Rufus Whitehouse v. Commonwealth of Kentucky ( 2022 )

RENDERED: DECEMBER 22, 2022; 10:00 A.M.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Court of Appeals
NO. 2021-CA-0592-MR
WILLIAM RUFUS WHITEHOUSE, III APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM OLDHAM CIRCUIT COURT
v. HONORABLE JERRY D. CROSBY, II, JUDGE
ACTION NO. 06-CR-00033
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE
OPINION
AFFIRMING
** ** ** ** **
BEFORE: CLAYTON, CHIEF JUDGE; ACREE AND TAYLOR, JUDGES.
TAYLOR, JUDGE: William Rufus Whitehouse, III, pro se, brings this appeal
from a March 9, 2021, Order of the Oldham Circuit Court denying a Kentucky
Rules of Civil Procedure (CR) 60.02 motion to vacate Whitehouse’s sentence of
imprisonment. We affirm.
In May 2006, Whitehouse was indicted by an Oldham County Grand
Jury upon the offenses of murder and wanton endangerment for causing the death
of his four-month-old daughter by breaking her clavicle and rib. Whitehouse
reached a plea agreement with the Commonwealth. Whitehouse agreed to plead
guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter and to first-degree wanton
endangerment, with a total sentence of 25-years’ imprisonment. The circuit court
accepted Whitehouse’s plea of guilty and sentenced him to a total of 25-years’
imprisonment.
In 2012, Whitehouse filed a CR 60.02 motion to vacate the sentence
of imprisonment based upon the involuntariness of his guilty plea. The circuit
court denied the motion, and Whitehouse pursued a direct appeal to the Court of
Appeals (Whitehouse v. Commonwealth, No. 2013-CA-0981-MR, 2015 WL
1304151 (Ky. App. Mar. 20, 2015)). The Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of
Whitehouse’s CR 60.02 motion. The Court concluded that Whitehouse’s guilty
plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered.
On March 5, 2021, Whitehouse filed another CR 60.02 motion to
vacate his sentence of imprisonment based upon prosecutorial misconduct.
According to Whitehouse, the Commonwealth committed prosecutorial
misconduct by indicting Whitehouse for murder when the evidence was
insufficient to support same and by ignoring his mental-health issues. He
specifically sought relief under CR 60.02(e) and (f).
-2-
By order entered March 9, 2021, the circuit court denied
Whitehouse’s CR 60.02 motion to vacate his sentence of imprisonment. The court
noted that Whitehouse had filed a previous CR 60.02 motion. The court ultimately
concluded that Whitehouse failed to show entitlement to the extraordinary remedy
under CR 60.02(e) and (f). This appeal follows.
Whitehouse contends that the circuit court erroneously denied his CR
60.02 motion to vacate his sentence of imprisonment. We disagree.
In Kentucky, the law is clear that a successive CR 60.02 motion is
impermissible upon any ground that could have been raised in the prior CR 60.02
proceeding. Stoker v. Commonwealth, 289 S.W.3d 592, 597 (Ky. App. 2009).
Simply stated, “CR 60.02 does not permit successive post-judgment motions[.]”
Foley v. Commonwealth, 425 S.W.3d 880, 884 (Ky. 2014).
In this case, Whitehouse filed a CR 60.02 motion in 2012 and then
filed the present CR 60.02 motion in 2021. Thus, the present CR 60.02 motion is a
successive motion, and the grounds alleged therein could have been raised in
Whitehouse’s prior CR 60.02 motion. As an impermissible successive CR 60.02
motion, we conclude that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by denying
same. See Foley, 425 S.W.3d at 884.
For the foregoing reasons, the Order of the Oldham Circuit Court is
affirmed.
-3-
ALL CONCUR.
BRIEFS FOR APPELLANT: BRIEF FOR APPELLEE:
William Rufus Whitehouse, III Daniel Cameron
Lexington, Kentucky Attorney General of Kentucky
Frankfort, Kentucky
Jeffrey A. Cross
Assistant Attorney General
Frankfort, Kentucky
-4-