Summitt v. Commonwealth

PALMORE, Justice.

James Willard Summitt appeals from a judgment sentencing him to life imprisonment pursuant to a jury verdict finding him guilty of rape. KRS 435.090 (now superseded by the Kentucky Penal Code, eff. January 1, 1975).

Shortly after midnight of July 20-21, 1974, Donna Jean Furgason was abducted by two men and raped by one of them. Some 20 hours later, after having reviewed over 1200 “mug shots” at the headquarters of the Jefferson County and Louisville police, she identified a photograph of the appellant as the man who raped her. In due course he was arrested and brought to…