Smith v. Commonwealth

O’HARA, Justice.

William Bonnie Smith was jointly indicted with John Charles Johnson by the Jefferson County Grand Jury on February 26, 1980 for the offense of murder in violation of KRS 507.020. Smith alone was also in- dieted and charged with being a second degree persistent felony offender under KRS 532.080. Johnson pled guilty to the murder charge and in exchange for his cooperation with the authorities, received the minimum sentence of twenty years. Appellant herein pled not guilty to the charges against him and, after a trial by jury, received a sentence of thirty years for his…