{"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 Missouri slip opinions may be modified or withdrawn; consult the official source.","party":{"slug":"jereil-l-fikes","displayName":"Jereil L. Fikes","totalCases":1},"cases":[{"caseId":"moappwd:wd81822:2019-12-31","opinionId":"5d847899-cbdc-5119-94cc-17d1181d94ea","slug":"state-of-missouri-v-jereil-l-fikes-d81822","caseName":"State of Missouri\nvs.\nJereil L. Fikes","caseNumber":"WD81822","court":"moappwd","courtLabel":"Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District","decisionDate":"2019-12-31","year":2019,"display_summary":"Jereil Fikes appealed his conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm following a bench trial, arguing the State failed to prove he knew he was a convicted felon. The appellate court affirmed the conviction, holding that knowledge of a prior felony conviction is not an element of the offense under Missouri Statute § 571.070. The court relied on the plain language of the statute and prior Southern District precedent to conclude that the \"knowingly\" element applies only to the possession of the firearm, not to the defendant's status as a felon.","primaryTopic":"criminal-procedure","topicSlugs":["criminal-procedure","appellate-procedure","evidence"],"outcomeNorm":"unknown","officialSourceUrl":"https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=147853","detailUrl":"https://ott.law/missouri-courts/opinions/state-of-missouri-v-jereil-l-fikes-d81822","relatedPracticeAreas":[{"slug":"criminal-law","label":"Criminal Law","href":"/practice-areas/criminal-law","score":40,"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","topic: appellate-procedure"],"url":"https://ott.law/practice-areas/litigation"}],"role":"respondent"}]}