{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-35.255","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 35.255","heading":"Voting and rulings.","body":"(1) Voting by members of a general or special court -martial on the findings and on the\nsentence shall be by secret written ballot. The junior member of the court shall\ncount the votes. The count shall be checked by the president, who shall forthwith\nannounce the result of the ballot to the members of the court.\n(2) The military judge shall rule upon all questions of law and interlocutory questions\narising during the proceedings. Any such ruling made by the military judge upon\nany question of law or any interloc utory question other than the factual issue of\nmental responsibility of the accused is final and constitutes the ruling of the court.\nHowever, the military judge may change the ruling at any time during the trial.\nUnless the ruling is final, if any member objects thereto, the court shall be cleared\nand closed and the question decided by a voice vote as provided in KRS 35.260,\nbeginning with the junior in rank.\n(3) Before a vote is taken on the findings, the military judge shall, in the presence of the\naccused and counsel, instruct the members of the court as to the elements of the\noffense and charge them:\n(a) That the accused must be presumed to be innocent until his guilt is established\nby legal and competent evidence beyond reasonable doubt;\n(b) That in the case being considered, if there is a reasonable doubt as to the guilt\nof the accused, the doubt shall be resolved in favor of the accused and he shall\nbe acquitted;\n(c) That if there is a reasonable doubt as to the degree of guilt, the finding must\nbe in a lower degree as to which there is no reasonable doubt; and\n(d) That the burden of proof to establish the guilt of the accused beyond\nreasonable doubt is upon the state.\n(4) Subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section do not apply to a court -martial\ncomposed of a military judge only. The military judge of such a court -martial shall\ndetermine all questions of law and fact arising during the proceedings and, if the\naccused is convicted, adjudge an appropriate sentence. The military judge of such a\ncourt-martial shall make a general finding and shall in addition on request find the\nfacts specially. If an opinion or memorandum decision is filed, it will be sufficient if\nthe findings of fact appear therein.","path":["KRS Chapter 35"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=41927","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:48:52Z","sha256":"63d7c0993b2f42e65449c33f7e95bf2da152f2a085841f6e8a6856545c2caf5f","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-35.252","next":"us-ky/krs-35.260"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}