{"disclaimer":"This is a summary of public court records and is not legal advice. Missouri slip opinions may be modified or withdrawn; consult the official source.","party":{"slug":"henry-john-epenesa-defendant","displayName":"HENRY JOHN EPENESA, Defendant-","totalCases":1},"cases":[{"caseId":"moappsd:sd38289:2024-06-24","opinionId":"bc25e86a-3c54-5a05-adeb-fd0034712ba7","slug":"state-of-missouri-plaintiff-respondent-v-henry-john-epenesa-defendant-app-d38289","caseName":"STATE OF MISSOURI, Plaintiff-Respondent\nvs.\nHENRY JOHN EPENESA, Defendant-Appellant","caseNumber":"SD38289","court":"moappsd","courtLabel":"Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District","decisionDate":"2024-06-24","year":2024,"display_summary":"Henry John Epenesa appealed his conviction for assault in the fourth degree following a bench trial, arguing there was insufficient evidence to prove he was not acting in self-defense. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment. It held that Epenesa failed to meet his burden of injecting the issue of self-defense with substantial evidence, thus the State was not required to disprove it, and the evidence presented was sufficient to support the conviction.","primaryTopic":"criminal-procedure","topicSlugs":["criminal-procedure","evidence","standard-of-review"],"outcomeNorm":"affirmed","officialSourceUrl":"https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=209153","detailUrl":"https://ott.law/missouri-courts/opinions/state-of-missouri-plaintiff-respondent-v-henry-john-epenesa-defendant-app-d38289","relatedPracticeAreas":[{"slug":"criminal-law","label":"Criminal Law","href":"/practice-areas/criminal-law","score":38,"source":"tag","evidence":["tag: criminal-law","topic: criminal-procedure","text: state of missouri","text: conviction"],"url":"https://ott.law/practice-areas/criminal-law"},{"slug":"litigation","label":"Civil Litigation","href":"/practice-areas/litigation","score":12,"source":"topic","evidence":["topic: evidence"],"url":"https://ott.law/practice-areas/litigation"}],"role":"appellant"}]}