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Case: STATE OF MISSOURI, Plaintiff-Respondent,
vs.
JOSE T. BENITEZ, Defendant-Appellant.
Case Number: SD32063
Court: Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District
Decision Date: 2013-10-17
Outcome: affirmed
Practice Area: criminal-law
Canonical URL: https://ott.law/missouri-courts/opinions/state-of-missouri-plaintiff-respondent-v-jose-t-benitez-defendant-appella-d32063
Official Source URL: https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=66714
Related Practice Areas:
- Criminal Law: https://ott.law/practice-areas/criminal-law?ott_archive=missouri-courts&ott_archive_practice_area=criminal-law&ott_archive_query=STATE+OF+MISSOURI%2C+Plaintiff-Respondent%2C%0Avs.%0AJOSE+T.+BENITEZ%2C+Defendant-Appellant.&ott_archive_link_source=tag&ott_archive_link_score=26&ott_archive_link_evidence=tag%3A+criminal-law%3B+text%3A+state+of+missouri&ott_archive_location=opinion_plain_text_practice_area (slug: criminal-law; source: tag; score: 26; evidence: tag: criminal-law, text: state of missouri, text: conviction)

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## Opinion

1 
 
STATE OF MISSOURI,     )  
      ) 
 Plaintiff-Respondent,    ) 
      ) 
vs.       )  No. SD32063 
      ) 
JOSE T. BENITEZ,        )  Filed:  October 17, 2013 
      ) 
 Defendant-Appellant.   ) 
 
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF JASPER COUNTY 
 
Honorable David C. Dally, Circuit Judge 
 
Before Lynch, P.J., Rahmeyer, J., and Francis, J. 
REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS
 
 
 PER CURIAM.  Jose T. Benitez ("Appellant") was convicted and sentenced to a 
violation of section 566.062, RSMO Cum. Supp. 2006.  The conviction was affirmed by 
this Court on June 10, 2013; subsequently, an Application for Transfer was filed in the 
Supreme Court of Missouri.  While the application for transfer was pending, Appellant 
died.  The Supreme Court granted the application for transfer but then retransferred the 
cause to this Court for: 
reconsideration  in  light  of City  of  Clayton  v.  Sigoloff,  452  S.W.2d  315, 
316 (Mo. App. 1970) (remanding the cause to the circuit court to dismiss 

 2 
the  underlying  action  where  defendant  passed  away  while  appeal  was 
pending).   Cf. State  v.  Macklin,  560  S.W.2d  69,  70  (Mo.  App.  1977) 
(noting  that  "[d]uring  his  lifetime,  defendant  was never  finally  convicted 
of  the  crimes  charged  and  his  death  served  to  abate  the  prosecutions 
against him."); State v. Lee, 580 S.W.2d 563, 564 (Mo. App. 1979); State 
v.  King,  603 S.W.2d  71,  72  (Mo.  App.  1980); State  v.  West,  630  S.W.2d 
271, 271 (Mo. App. 1982). 
 
 Thus, in light of the aforementioned cases, we remand to the circuit court to 
dismiss the underlying action.