Hopkinsville, KY, USA / WHOP 1230 AM | News Radio
Apr 21, 2021 11:47 AM
Attorneys for Karen Brafman, who was previously convicted of attempted murder and arson but had that verdict overturned due to flagrant prosecutorial misconduct, will be asking the judge to dismiss the case in the near future.
A jury found Brafman guilty of first-degree arson, second-degree arson and six counts of attempted murder and gave her a life sentence. She allegedly set fire to a mobile home on Princeton Road with six people inside, including four children, in May of 2018.
The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed the decision in December, saying she was denied a fair trial when Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling opposed her using a defense that she was intoxicated even though he knew she had been at the time of the crime.
Editor s note: This story has been updated.
The Kentucky Supreme Court announced Thursday that it has reversed the judgment and remand on Karen Brafman for a second trial due to misconduct by Commonwealthâs Attorney Rick Boling, who is still currently not allowed to practice in circuit court.
Brafman, 33, was found guilty in April, 2019 of intentionally setting fire to a mobile home on May 12, 2018, in Cerulean with six people inside. She filed an appeal in February with the Kentucky Supreme Court, alleging that the commonwealth denied her a fair trial.
On Thursday, the Supreme Courtâs ruling was released and detailed the courtâs reasons behind the reversal. Although Brafman s appellate attorneys, Kayla Deatherage and Emily Rhorer, argued seven reasons Brafman s case should be overturned, the court found that prosecutorial misconduct was severe enough to warrant a reversal without looking at the other arguments.
The Kentucky Supreme Court Thursday reversed a Cerulean woman’s conviction on arson and attempted murder charges from a 2019 case in Christian County.
A Christian County Circuit Court jury convicted Karen Brafman of first and second-degree arson and six counts of attempted murder in 2019. The Supreme Court reversed that decision Thursday on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct by Commonwealth Attorney Rick Boling, with the decision saying it was blatant enough to depict her trial as “fundamentally unfair.”
Brafman argued she was deprived of her right to present a full defense when the trial court declined to instruct the jury on her central defense of voluntary intoxication beyond her own testimony, which the jury found to be insufficient to support her defense.
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