Christopher Raymond Disney v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

── Christopher Raymond Disney v. Commonwealth of Kentucky ── Court: Court of Appeals of Kentucky Date: May 15, 2026 Author: L. Jones Category: General RENDERED: MAY 15, 2026; 10:00 A.M. NOT TO BE PUBLISHED Commonwealth of Kentucky Court of Appeals NO. 2024-CA-1363-MR CHRISTOPHER RAYMOND DISNEY APPELLANT APPEAL FROM WHITLEY CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE PAUL K. WINCHESTER, JUDGE ACTION NO. 24-CR-00051 COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE OPINION AFFIRMING ** ** ** ** ** BEFORE: CETRULO, L. JONES, AND MOYNAHAN, JUDGES. JONES, L., JUDGE: Christopher Raymond Disney brings this appeal from an October 30, 2024 Final Judgment and Sentence on Plea of Guilty rendered by the Whitley Circuit Court upon a conditional plea of guilty following denial of his motion to suppress. We affirm. In September of 2023, Officer Chris Brown of the Corbin Police Department received a tip from a confidential informant that Disney was trafficking in narcotics. On October 2, 2023, Officer Brown spotted Disney parked at a local gas station and Officer Brown alerted Officer Brentley Patrick, who was on patrol. Officer Patrick responded to Officer Brown’s alert, parked at the gas station, then observed Disney pull out and illegally cross into the turn lane. Officer Patrick followed Disney onto the nearby interstate where Disney crossed the center line multiple times. Officer Patrick suspected Disney was driving under the influence and initiated a traffic stop. Officer Patrick approached Disney’s vehicle and obtained his driver’s license. There were also three passengers in the vehicle with Disney. Suspecting that Disney was under the influence, Officer Patrick ordered Disney out of the vehicle and administered a field sobriety test. Officer Brown was also on the scene and stayed near the vehicle as the passengers remained inside. Disney failed the field sobriety test; he was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) and was placed in a police cruiser. After Disney was arrested, Officer Estes Rhodes, who had arrived on the scene with his police canine (K-9), conducted an “open air sniff” of the vehicle. The K-9 alerted on the vehicle. Officer Brown, who had been standing at the back of the vehicle while Officer Patrick conducted the field sobriety test, walked up to the driver’s side door, smelled marijuana, and saw in plain view a pill bottle suspected to contain narcotics. The three passengers were asked to exit the vehicle and provide driver’s licenses. As the vehicle was not registered to Disney or any -2- of the passengers, the officers decided to have the vehicle impounded. The officers discussed with the passengers an agreed location where they would catch a ride. Based upon the K-9 alert, the smell of marijuana, and the pills in plain view, the officers decided to search the vehicle. The search revealed a container of methamphetamine in a magnet box on the driver’s side floorboard. On February 22, 2024, Disney was indicted by a Whitley County Grand Jury upon one count each of the following: Count I – Trafficking in a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, Methamphetamine; Count II – Trafficking in a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, Fentanyl; Count III – Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, Alprazolam; Count IV – Possession of Drug Paraphernalia; and Count V – being a Persistent Felony Offender (PFO) in the First Degree.1 Disney subsequently filed a motion to suppress the results of the search of his vehicle. Following a hearing, the trial court denied Disney’s motion to suppress. Pursuant to a plea agreement with the Commonwealth, Disney entered a conditional plea of guilty re