Gary Sweet v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

Summary

The court affirmed Sweet’s convictions despite concluding that the rape and incest instructions included an impermissible vulnerable-victim theory and therefore were erroneous. Because the error was not knowingly waived, the court reviewed it for palpable error but found no manifest injustice in light of the strong evidence supporting forcible compulsion. The court also held that the trial court acted within its discretion in declining to strike a prospective juror for cause and in allowing the intellectually disabled victim’s guardian to sit nearby during testimony. Separate writings concurred in the result but would have treated the instructional-error claim as waived.