Commonwealth v. Hager

COOPER, Justice.

CERTIFYING THE LAW

William Thomas Hager, Jr., killed John Allen Brown by stabbing him in the chest with a knife. Hager admitted the killing and claimed self-defense. He was indicted for murder, but a Fayette Circuit Court jury convicted him of fourth-degree assault, a class A misdemeanor, for which he was sentenced to the maximum penalty of twelve months in jail and a $500 fine. KRS 508.030(2); KRS 532.090(1); KRS 534.040(2)(a). Since the jurors were not instructed on the elements of fourth-degree assault, they presumably did not *831know that when an assault results in the…