Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Joshua Deante Jackson and Telly Savalas Denson

Summary

The Kentucky Supreme Court considered whether a 2016 amendment extending the DUI look-back period from five years to ten years could be used to enhance DUI charges against Joshua Deante Jackson and Telly Savalas Denson. The Court held that applying the amended look-back period to offenses committed after the amendment’s effective date did not violate ex post facto principles, retroactivity rules, or Boykin v. Alabama, and that the defendants’ prior plea agreements did not contractually preserve the former five-year period. The Court reversed the Warren Circuit Court’s judgments and remanded the cases.

Holdings

1. The plea agreements did not promise or reasonably induce the defendants to believe that their prior DUI convictions could be used to enhance later DUI offenses only within five years. The agreements therefore did not bar application of the amended ten-year look-back period.
2. Applying the amended ten-year DUI look-back period to DUI offenses committed after the amendment's effective date does not violate ex post facto principles.
3. The 2016 amendment was not being applied retroactively, and KRS 446.080(3) and KRS 446.110 did not bar its application to DUI offenses committed after the amendment became effective.
4. Boykin v. Alabama does not bar application of the 2016 amendment merely because the defendants' earlier guilty pleas occurred before the amendment and the defendants were unaware of future legislative changes affecting the convictions' consequences.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the defendants' plea agreements contractually limited the use of their prior DUI convictions to enhance later offenses to the former five-year look-back period.
2. Whether applying the 2016 ten-year DUI look-back period to offenses committed after the amendment violated ex post facto principles or Kentucky's statutory retroactivity rules.
3. Whether Boykin v. Alabama barred application of the amended look-back period because the defendants were not informed of future legislative changes affecting the consequences of their guilty pleas.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded