The Kentucky Supreme Court plans to review Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman’s decision to dismiss a murder case stemming from a fatal 2020 Lexington crash, a ruling that became a central example in lawmakers’ effort to impeach her. The high court granted review Sept. 16 in the case against Cornell Denmark Thomas II, who was charged with wanton murder after a crash that killed Tammy Botkin. The Court of Appeals had overturned Goodman’s dismissal in a December 2025 ruling, describing her order as marked by serious legal errors and an abuse of authority. The Supreme Court’s review is separate from its earlier ruling that halted the legislature’s impeachment proceedings against Goodman. But constitutional lawyer Sheryl Snyder said a critical opinion from the justices could give lawmakers additional political ammunition. “Politically, they’re related,” Snyder said, while emphasizing that the two cases are legally distinct. Goodman dismissed the charges against Thomas in 2023, finding that he had been overcharged because he is Black. Prosecutors alleged Thomas had been driving close to 100 mph and fled on foot after the crash. Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird, who leads the office handling the prosecution, is also Black. The case was the first of six cited in a 2026 impeachment petition filed by former state Rep. Killian Timoney. Timoney later said he filed it on behalf of Botkin’s family. Her widower, Doug Botkin, told a House committee that the family was shocked by Goodman’s decision to dismiss the charges. In April, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the impeachment proceeding encroached on the judiciary’s constitutional authority and violated the separation of powers. The state Senate then paused its inquiry and allowed the Judicial Conduct Commission to review the matter. The commission’s investigations are confidential under court rules until specific formal steps occur, its executive secretary has said. University of Louisville law professor Joe Dunman said the Supreme Court may use the Thomas case to clarify Kentucky law on what motions judges can consider at that stage of a criminal proceeding. The Court of Appeals said Goodman relied on federal law but misinterpreted it, Dunman said. Dunman said he would not expect the Supreme Court to reverse the appellate ruling. If the justices uphold it, he said, the criminal case would return to Goodman to begin again. The Supreme Court also has authority to discipline judges or order a judge’s recusal or reassignment. A reversal on the law would not, by itself, establish grounds for impeachment, Dunman said. But he noted that lawmakers could cite an unfavorable ruling as another reason to criticize Goodman. Snyder said the House would need to approve new articles of impeachment if lawmakers wanted to pursue the matter after the current legislative session ended. He said he knows of no modern Kentucky precedent for impeaching a judge over a judicial decision, noting that the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission was created to address judicial misconduct that does not rise to the level of impeachment. The General Assembly is scheduled to return to Frankfort in January. Goodman, elected to the Fayette County Circuit Court in 2022, has a term that runs through 2031.