Commonwealth v. Johnson

LAMBERT, Justice.

The issue on appeal is whether, upon an unconditional guilty plea, the Commonwealth is entitled to present its ease for punishment to a jury for its verdict prior to imposition of final judgment. The trial court held that the Commonwealth was without any such right and this was in accord with appellee’s contention. Pursuant to KRS 22A020, the Commonwealth took an interlocutory appeal and we granted transfer.

On June 17, 1994, appellee Donald Herb Johnson entered an unconditional plea of guilty in the Perry Circuit Court to the charge of murder and to the charges of first…