Jones v. Commonwealth

Summary

The Supreme Court of Kentucky held that KRS 189A.120(1) prohibited the Commonwealth from seeking to amend a fourth-offense DUI charge to a lesser DUI offense when the defendant had refused alcohol testing. The court rejected a distinction between prosecutorial agreement to a defendant's amendment request and a prosecutor's independent motion to amend. It reversed the Court of Appeals, vacated Jones's convictions, and remanded the case.

Holdings

1. KRS 189A.120(1)'s prohibition on a prosecuting attorney agreeing to amend a DUI charge to a lesser offense includes an amendment sought by the Commonwealth itself; the Commonwealth may neither join a defendant's motion nor independently seek such an amendment, subject to the statutory exception concerning unavailable prosecution witnesses.
2. The court may not create a judicial exception to KRS 189A.120(1) merely because the amendment did not appear to reduce the defendant's overall possible sentence.

Questions Presented

1. Whether KRS 189A.120(1) prohibits a prosecuting attorney from independently moving to amend a DUI charge to a lesser offense when the defendant has refused an alcohol-concentration test.
2. Whether the absence of an apparent reduction in the defendant's overall possible sentence permits a judicial exception to the prohibition in KRS 189A.120(1).

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded