Miracle v. Commonwealth

OPINION OF THE COURT

Appellant, Charles Douglas Miracle, has been convicted of murdering a Lexington, Kentucky, cab driver, John Willard. Willard was shot to death and robbed on the night of March 1, 1981. His body was found the next morning beside a road in Johnson County.

The case was tried under KRS 507.020 as a capital offense. The defense did not deny that appellant killed Willard, but maintained that he had emotional problems which impaired his mental status, reducing the level of the offense. The jury was instructed on murder during the commission of robbery in the first-degree as an…