Background
M.C. was indicted for first-degree robbery and first-degree assault after attacking Kelvin Ashbrook with an iron bar while stealing Ashbrook’s SUV. Ashbrook sustained head wounds requiring 20 staples and four stitches, broken bones, substantial bleeding, and at least one surgery. After the circuit court found M.C. incompetent to stand trial, the Commonwealth petitioned for his involuntary commitment under KRS Chapter 202C.
The circuit court found that M.C. had committed a qualifying offense and rejected his constitutional challenge to Chapter 202C. Following a commitment hearing, a jury found the statutory requirements for involuntary commitment satisfied, and the court committed M.C. to the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center. M.C. appealed, challenging Chapter 202C’s constitutionality and raising four additional, unpreserved claims concerning the qualifying offense, legal representation, verdict form, and jury instructions.
The Court’s Holding
The Court of Appeals affirmed. It held that the Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision in R.L.P. v. Commonwealth, 733 S.W.3d 265 (Ky. 2026), foreclosed M.C.’s constitutional challenge because that decision upheld KRS Chapter 202C in its entirety. As an intermediate appellate court, the court was bound to follow that precedent.
Reviewing the remaining unpreserved claims under the civil palpable-error rule, the court found no manifest injustice. Ashbrook’s extensive injuries supported the determination that M.C. had committed a qualifying offense. The court treated trial counsel’s decision not to participate actively in the commitment hearing as invited error and a waiver, while also noting that counsel remained at the table and the guardian ad litem advocated for M.C. The alleged verdict-form defect was not shown to have affected the outcome, and the court rejected M.C.’s demand for a criminal presumption-of-innocence instruction because Chapter 202C proceedings are civil, not criminal.
Key Takeaways
- R.L.P. v. Commonwealth controlled and required rejection of M.C.’s constitutional challenge to KRS Chapter 202C.
- Chapter 202C commitment proceedings are civil, so civil palpable-error review applies and criminal procedural protections do not automatically govern.
- The court found that the victim’s head wounds, broken bones, bleeding, and surgery supported the qualifying-offense determination.
- Invited error arising from defense counsel’s own litigation conduct cannot provide a basis for appellate relief.
Why It Matters
The decision applies the Kentucky Supreme Court’s recent approval of Chapter 202C and reinforces that lower courts must treat the statute’s commitment process as civil. Defendants therefore cannot rely on criminal procedural rules without showing that the governing civil-commitment statutes require comparable protections.
The opinion also underscores the difficulty of obtaining relief on unpreserved claims: an appellant must establish palpable error producing manifest injustice, not merely identify a possible defect or invoke protections applicable in criminal trials.