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RENDERED: JANUARY 25,200l

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1999-SC-1018-CL

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

V.

CERTIFICATION OF THE LAW FROM FAYETTE CIRCUIT COURT 99-CR-267

WILLIAM THOMAS HAGER, JR.

APPELLEE

OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE COOPER CERTIFYING THE LAW

William Thomas Hager, Jr., killed John Allen Brown by stabbing him in the chest with a knife. Hager admitted the killing and claimed self-defense. He was indicted for murder, but a Fayette Circuit Court jury convicted him of fourth-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor, for which he was sentenced to the maximum penalty of twelve months in jail and a $500 fine. KRS 508.030(2); KRS 532.090(l); KRS 534.040(2)(a). Since the jurors were not instructed on the elements of fourth-degree assault, they presumably did not know that when an assault results in the victim's death, the offense is not an assault, but a homicide. KRS 507.010. [Alssault becomes a companion of homicide since both are so-called "result" offenses. Bodily injury is the prohibited result of the former and death is the prohibited result of the latter.

R. Lawson, Criminal Law Revision in Kentuckv. Part I -- Homicide and Assault, 58 Ky. L.J. 242, 263 (1969-70). Thus, a conviction of fourth-degree assault can only be obtained if the result of the assault is physical injury, not death. KRS 508.030(l). Hager did not appeal his conviction. However, the Commonwealth requested a certification of the law with respect to the jury instructions that led to this unusual verdict. Ky. Const.

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Kentucky Law