375 S.W.2d at 263. Likewise, in Martin v. Frasure, Ky., 352 S.W.2d 817 (1962), upon the fifth appeal involving various phases of a thirty-year family legal feud, appellant attacked certain earlier proceedings on the grounds that they were "inequitable and unlawful." In response, we said:
For litigation to proceed in an orderly manner and finally settle the rights of the parties, it is necessary for parties to timely assert the rights they claim to a court with power to grant the relief sought. Martin v. Frasure, [352 S.W.2d 817, 818 (Ky. 1962)]. One cannot accept the benefits of that portion of an opinion which is favorable and later relitigate that portion which is not.
"A final decision of this Court, whether right or wrong, is the law of the case and is conclusive of the questions therein resolved." Williamson v. Commonwealth, 767 S.W.2d 323, 325 (Ky. 1989) (quoting Martin v. Frasure, 352 S.W.2d 817, 818 (Ky. 1961)).
It has long been recognized that the final decisions of the court are binding on the parties, the trial court and this Court. See Haight v. Commonwealth, Ky., 938 S.W.2d 243 (1996), citing Martin v. Frasure, Ky., 352 S.W.2d 817 (1961); Taylor v. Mills, Ky., 320 S.W.2d 111 (1958). Obviously, the law of the case doctrine is intended to prevent defendants from endlessly litigating the same issue in appeal after appeal.
A final decision of this Court, whether right or wrong, is the law of the case and is conclusive of the questions therein resolved. It is binding upon the parties, the trial court, and the Court of Appeals. It may not be reconsidered by prosecuting an appeal from a judgment entered in conformity therewith.Williamson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 767 S.W.2d 323, 325 (1989), quoting Martin v. Frasure, Ky., 352 S.W.2d 817 (1962). Appellant appeals from her final sentencing, which is a judgment made by the trial court in conformity with our opinion in Lane, supra. Her argument on appeal is clearly barred by the law of the case doctrine.
A final decision of this Court, whether right or wrong, is the law of the case and is conclusive of the questions therein resolved. It is binding upon the parties, the trial court, and the Court of Appeals. It may not be reconsidered by prosecuting an appeal from a judgment entered in conformity therewith.Williamson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 767 S.W.2d 323, 325 (1989), (quoting Martin v. Frasure, Ky., 352 S.W.2d 817, 818 (1961)). The law of this case is that Meeks' nomination as the Democratic candidate for 11th Ward Alderman for the city of Louisville, is void and deemed vacant.
A final decision of this Court, whether right or wrong, is the law of the case and is conclusive of the questions therein resolved. It is binding upon the parties, the trial court, and the Court of Appeals. It may not be reconsidered by prosecuting an appeal from a judgment entered in conformity therewith.Williamson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 767 S.W.2d 323, 325 (1989) (quoting Martin v. Frasure, Ky., 352 S.W.2d 817, 818 (1961)). The essential facts are that after having escaped from the Johnson County Jail, in the course of committing first degree robbery, appellant inflicted multiple gunshot wounds upon the victims and thereby caused them to die.
It is binding on the parties, the trial court, and the [appellate courts]." Martin v. Frasure, Ky., 352 S.W.2d 817, 818 (1961).
Id. at 563-64. In Williamson v. Commonwealth, Ky., 767 S.W.2d 323 (1989), this Court held that the law of the case governs a second appeal and, quoting from Martin v. Frasure, Ky., 352 S.W.2d 817 (1961), stated that a final decision, whether right or wrong, is the law of the case and is conclusive of the questions therein resolved and is binding upon the parties, the trial court, and the Court of Appeals. Upon examination of the voluminous record in this case, we are convinced that the issue presented in the 1994 appeal with reference to the applicability of the Statute of Frauds was the same issue litigated and finally settled by the 1988 Court of Appeals' Opinion. It is worthy of emphatic repetition, however, that this Court has not decided the substantive principles of law involved here.
The distinguishing factor between the law of the case opinions and the current situation is that where the law of the case applies, it is limited to situations where a ruling of law is made based on existing law and that ruling has gone unchallenged during the original appeal. See Inman v. Inman, Ky., 648 S.W.2d 847 (1982); Siler v. Williford, Ky., 375 S.W.2d 262 (1964); Martin v. Frasure, Ky., 352 S.W.2d 817 (1962). In the current situation, the law changed between the first and second trials.