Guilty verdict reinstated for Lexington father convicted of killing his son
The Kentucky Court of Appeals has reinstated the guilty verdict for a Lexington father convicted of killing his son, according to court documents.
James Hendron, 52, was found guilty of murder by a jury in February 2024. The jury recommended that he serve a life sentence in prison for killing his 23-year-old son, Austin Hendron, on Father’s Day in 2018.
At Hendron’s sentencing a few months later, Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman threw out the verdict and granted Hendron a new trial. Goodman determined prosecutors participated in burden-shifting during closing arguments, inserted their personal opinion, violated the “golden rule,” which directs prosecutors to avoid telling jurors to imagine their family was the victim of a given crime, and presented false testimony, leaving her no choice but to grant a new trial.
However, the appeals court disagreed that the prosecutor’s misconduct reached the level of palpable error, according to the court’s ruling. It also said Goodman abused her discretion in ordering a new trial.
“We are unconvinced that the Commonwealth engaged in such serious, pervasive, or flagrant misconduct that the only conclusion was to reverse Hendron’s conviction and grant him a new trial,” the appeals court said in the ruling. “Conversely, the circuit court not only ignored the law on this matter but also impermissibly encroached on the province of the jury as finder of fact when she engaged in an independent review of the case in contravention of our jury system.”
At the time of her 31-page ruling, Goodman said prosecutors’ alleged practice of “burden shifting” was enough to grant a new trial alone.
“Due to their sheer number, these errors amounted to flagrant prosecutorial misconduct, resulting in manifest injustice,” Goodman wrote. “The errors in this case were so pervasive — and the conduct of the Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney so inappropriate — the court is compelled to grant the defendant a new trial.”
The appeals court found some inaccuracies in the prosecutors’ closing arguments, but did not think they were egregious enough to affect the trial’s fairness.
“Because the Commonwealth only made one comment with the words ‘I believe’ during the approximately 60-minute-long closing argument, such comment was isolated, which weighs in favor of the Commonwealth,” the appeals court’s ruling said.
The appeals court also determined that two alleged “golden rule” arguments made by prosecutors and identified Goodman were not infractions.
A “golden rule” argument is “one in which the prosecutor asks the jurors to imagine themselves or someone they care about in the position of the crime victim.” “Golden rule” arguments are prejudicial and considered erroneous by the Kentucky Supreme Court, according to the appeals court.
Goodman thought the prosecutors broke the “golden rule” when they asked whether shooting Austin Hendron was “an appropriate amount of force to use on your own child,” and then theorized that “we can all think of different ways as a parent, as a child, as a sibling, that this situation could have been de-escalated, for a family member you love.”
The appeals court determined the statement asked jurors to put themselves in the shoes of James Hendron, not Austin Hendron.
“Therefore, the foregoing statement did not ask the jurors to imagine themselves or someone they care about in the crime victim’s position and is therefore not a ‘golden rule’ argument,” the appeals court said in the ruling.
The second alleged “golden rule” infraction was when prosecutors said, “What happens to their sons (motioning to the victim’s family) I care about, and you all should too, as members of this community.”
The appeals court determined the statement did not ask jurors to put themselves or their loved ones in the victim’s shoes.
The appeals Court also found no evidence of intentional false testimony or misconduct. James Hendron is next scheduled to appear in Fayette Circuit Court on July 10 for a status hearing.
Goodman’s decision to order a new trial prompted outcry from the family inside the courtroom, and Goodman threatened to place a prosecutor in custody.
It was one of several instances last year in which Goodman was criticized for her rulings against prosecutors alleging misconduct. Her rulings even caught the eye of Attorney General Russell Coleman, who also has moved to have some of Goodman’s opinions reversed.
Coleman said Friday Baird’s team “took a violent killer off the streets” and commended the court of appeals for reinstating the jury’s verdict.
“As another anniversary without their loved one nears, we are grateful Austin’s family will find comfort knowing the justice lawfully delivered will stand,” Coleman said.
Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird said she was grateful the order was appealed.
“We believed that we followed the law during the trial and the Court of Appeals agreed,” Baird said. “We look forward to having a court date very soon where James Hendron can officially be sentenced, and Austin’s family can feel justice has finally been served.”
Her order for a retrial in the Hendron case was one of two instances in a six-month period that Goodman accused prosecutors of misconduct in her court. In the first instance, Goodman used the allegation to dismiss a murder indictment.
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 3:05 PM.
