Wrongfully convicted Frankfort man freed after KY Supreme Court ruling
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A wrongfully convicted Frankfort man who spent nearly nine years in prison has been freed after the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned his conviction.
John “Brandon” Lamotte, 32, had been in prison since 2017, when he was charged with stabbing and injuring his neighbor and friend, Kate Sanders. She testified at trial that he had stabbed her, but she later recanted.
Lamotte was convicted in 2019, but a Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled in 2023 his conviction was invalid. On Wednesday, the Kentucky Supreme Court agreed.
“Today has been a long time coming for Brandon and his family and friends, who have fought tirelessly for the truth to be exposed,” said Lamotte’s attorney, Amy Robinson Staples, of the Exoneration Project, a nonprofit that provides free legal services to the wrongfully convicted. “The false charges levied against him and the many years of wrongful incarceration have had a severe impact on them all. Our hope is that with the appellate court’s rulings, Brandon and his family can begin rebuilding their lives.”
When Sanders was stabbed in 2017, she told first responders her ex-boyfriend, who had a history of violence, had attached her, according to the Exoneration Project.
But Frankfort police instead focused on Lamotte, and she eventually identified him as her attacker at trial.
Lamotte was convicted of first-degree assault and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
But, according to the Exoneration Project, Sanders later recanted on at least three occasions. She also made social media posts admitting she had sent an innocent man to prison.
Lamotte’s attorneys filed a motion to throw out his conviction, but the Franklin Circuit Court denied Lamotte’s motion in August 2020.
Even after the Kentucky Court of Appeals issued an opinion reversing Lamotte’s conviction, but he remained in prison for more than two years as prosecutors fought the decision.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 4:26 PM.
