Martin v. Commonwealth

1

CHRISTIAN RICHARD MARTIN APPELLANT v. COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE

No. 2021-SC-0399-MR

Supreme Court of Kentucky

October 26, 2023

ON APPEAL FROM CHRISTIAN CIRCUIT COURT HONORABLE JOHN L. ATKINS JUDGE NO. 19-CR-00298

COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT: Julia K. Pearson Adam Meyer Assistant Public Advocates

COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: Daniel J. Cameron Attorney General of Kentucky, Robert Baldridge Assistant Attorney General

OPINION

BISIG JUSTICE

Christian Richard Martin was convicted in Christian Circuit Court on three counts of murder; two counts of burglary; one count of arson; one count of attempted arson; and three counts of tampering with physical evidence. He received three life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders a life sentence for arson; twenty years' imprisonment for attempted arson; twenty years' imprisonment for each count of burglary; and five years for each count of tampering with physical evidence for a total sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Martin appeals to this Court as a matter of right.^[1]

Martin argues the trial court erred by (1) admitting hearsay statements that the victims feared him; (2) allowing his ex-wife and stepson to refuse to testify on Fifth Amendment grounds; (3) excluding certain alleged alternative perpetrator ("aaltperp") evidence; (4) admitting evidence of a bullet casing that was discovered by a lay witness and excluding evidence that the same witness failed a polygraph examination; (5) denying his motion for directed verdict on the arson and murder charges; and (6) allowing his convictions on two counts of first-degree burglary to stand in violation of double jeopardy principles.

Having carefully reviewed the record and arguments, we reverse Martin's arson and attempted arson convictions, otherwise affirm, and remand for entry of a judgment consistent with this Opinion.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Martin served as a Major in the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was married to Joan Harmon. Martin and Harmon resided in Pembroke, Kentucky, with Justin Elijah Harmon, Harmon's minor son from a previous relationship.^[2] The marriage between Martin and Harmon was fractious. In 2012, Martin filed for divorce. The marriage was ultimately annulled after it was discovered Harmon had never divorced her previous husband. During an argument regarding the divorce, Martin's daughter overheard Harmon tell Martin that she would ruin his life and military career if he left her.

Harmon asked neighbors, Calvin "Cal" Phillips and his wife, Pamela "Pam" Phillips, to help her move out of the residence she shared with Martin.^[3]During the move, Cal observed what he believed to be classified military information located on a laptop computer and computer disks. Cal took possession of the items and turned them over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Harmon also told Cal that Martin was physically abusive to Justin and her. She gave him photographs depicting Justin's injuries, which Cal provided to military police.

The military charged Martin with various offenses relating to the mishandling of classified information and the physical abuse of Justin. Cal was scheduled to testify at the court-martial. In the weeks and months leading up to the court-martial, Cal and Pam made statements to several individuals indicating their fear that Martin would harm or kill them and that, if anything happened to them, authorities should investigate Martin. After several continuances, the court-martial proceeding was scheduled for December 2015.

On November 18, 2015, Pam left for work around 7:00 a.m. Around noon, she was informed that a washing machine she had ordered could not be delivered to her home because no one was there. Pam was concerned, so she left work earlier than usual, around 5:00 p.m., to go check on Cal. When she arrived at the residence, Pam called a friend, Frances Marlene LaRock, to ask if she had seen Cal. LaRock had called Cal earlier in the day to check on his sick dog, but no one answered. LaRock had also gone to the Phillips' residence around 2:00 p.m., and found the front door open, which was unusual, but assumed that Cal was out working in the back field.

Pam told LaRock to hold on the line because she saw something. LaRock heard a scream, as if someone had been startled, and then silence. LaRock returned to check on Pam, and found the front door open, but no one answered. At that time, Pam's car was parked normally. About an hour later, LaRock returned again to check on the Phillipses. At this time, Pam's car had been moved to face the other direction and the front door of the house was closed.

Early the next morning, around 2:15 a.m., John Homick, a nearby resident, was awakened by the sound of two explosions or gunshots coming from somewhere on his farm. He thought the sounds were possibly caused by trespassing hunters and did not investigate. Later that morning, Homick saw a car smoldering in his field. Police discovered two sets of human remains inside the burnt vehicle. The vehicle was registered to the Phillipses. Police officers then went to the Phillips' residence where they discovered Cal's remains in the cellar among signs of a fire.

Police continued to search the Phillips' property^[4] and discovered blood in the backyard next to a distinctive World War II-era pistol, which was known to belong to the Phillips' neighbor, Ed Dansereau. Subsequent testing indicated that the blood belonged to Dansereau. Pam's blood was also discovered on the back door and in the yard. Police confirmed the burnt remains in the vehicle belonged to Pam and Dansereau. Several hairs were recovered from Dansereau's vehicle, which had been located between his residence and Pam's burnt vehicle. While certain hairs were "consistent" with a sample taken from Martin, only one hair was suitable for definitive DNA testing and it did not match Martin.

Projectile fragments recovered from the bodies of Pam and Dansereau confirmed they had been shot multiple times with a .22 caliber firearm. Martin owned several .22 caliber firearms. Forensic testing was inconclusive, meaning that the examiner could neither confirm nor exclude the possibility that the recovered fragments were linked to Martin's .22 caliber firearms.

Cal was killed by unique G-2 RIP .45 caliber bullets fired from a Glock pistol. He suffered several gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma injuries to the head, face, and extremities. The police found a .45 caliber Glock pistol when they searched Martin's home safe. Again, forensic testing of the recovered fragments was inconclusive.

No arrests were made in the immediate aftermath of the murders. Martin eventually left Pembroke and moved to North Carolina where he worked as a commercial airline pilot. At some point, he was convicted at the court-martial proceeding. United States v. Martin, ARMY 20160336, 2019 WL 1076998 at *1 n.2 (A. Ct. Crim. App. Mar. 5, 2019). Martin was dismissed from the Army and sentenced to "confinement for ninety days, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a reprimand." Id.

Following the murders, the Phillips' son, Matt Phillips, and his aunt, Diana Phillips, installed cameras and otherwise secured the Phillips' residence. Several months later, in April 2016, Diana noticed a metallic object under some wood on the breezeway to the back porch. She showed the object to Matt who realized it was a shell casing and called the police. Apparently, police had concerns regarding the circumstances surrounding the discovery of this evidence.^[5] In any event, in 2018, testing revealed the casing was fired from Martin's Glock.

On May 11, 2019, Martin was arrested at the Louisville Airport as he was preparing to pilot a commercial flight. He was later indicted on three counts of murder, two counts of burglary, one count of arson, one count of attempted arson, and three counts of tampering with physical evidence. Venue was transferred from Christian County to Hardin County.

At trial, Martin presented an aaltperp defense asserting that his ex-wife Harmon wanted to ruin him, and so had her boyfriend commit the murders and plant the shell on the Phillips' porch to frame him. Given Martin's theory of the case, Harmon and Justin invoked the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Following a hearing, the circuit court ordered that neither Harmon nor Justin could be called as a witness at trial.

Martin therefore developed his aaltperp defense through argument and other witnesses. Martin explicitly implicated Harmon in the murders during his opening statement. Martin also presented testimony from his daughter that Harmon threatened to ruin him and his military career when he told her that he wanted to end their marriage. Martin likewise presented testimony from Harmon's work supervisor, Lisa Petrie, that Harmon was strangely excited, and almost happy, in the immediate aftermath of the murders.

Harmon's statements about the murders and other behavior disturbed Petrie to the point that Petrie reported Harmon to police.^[6] Martin further presented evidence that about a month after the murders, Harmon brought Pam's cellphone to an AT&T store, claiming she had found it in the yard of her residence in Elkton, Kentucky.^[7] When Harmon returned the phone to AT&T, it had been reset to factory settings.

Martin also produced evidence that Harmon was known to carry a Glock pistol. Martin further attempted to cast doubt on the integrity of the investigation because Harmon was romantically involved with William Stokes, who was related to Ed Stokes, a Christian County Sheriff's Deputy. Former assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Katherine Foster^[8] also testified that, in her opinion,...