Williams v. Kentucky
Kentucky Court of Appeals
829 S.W.2d 942 (1992)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Robert Williams (defendant) was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to five years in prison. The trial judge did not consider alternative sentencing due to a 1976 law stating that persons who were found guilty of a felony involving a gun were not eligible for probation or conditional discharge. Williams appealed based on a 1990 Kentucky law stating, “In every case in which a person . . . is convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment, the judge shall consider whether the person should be sentenced to a term of community service as an alternative to the prison term.” Williams claimed that the judge’s lack of consideration of alternative sentencing violated the statute. Also relevant was a statute also enacted in 1990 providing for the availability of conditional discharge for any case in which imprisonment was not required by statute.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Howerton, J.)
Dissent (Huddleston, J.)
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