Filtered slip opinions

McGregory appealed his convictions for domestic assault in the third degree and property damage in the second degree, raising unpreserved claims of error regarding evidence admissibility and the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund judgment amount. The court affirmed the convictions but modified the CVC judgment amount, finding the trial court entered a judgment in excess of that authorized by law.

The court affirmed Clancy's conviction for second-degree assault against a special victim after a jury trial. The evidence was sufficient to prove that Clancy punched an elderly civilian in the face and struck a police officer during an altercation at a laundromat, supporting the conviction under Missouri statute § 565.052.3.

James Willis Peters appealed his conviction for driving while intoxicated as a chronic offender, challenging whether the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that all four of his prior offenses were intoxication-related traffic offenses. The court found the state failed to sufficiently prove his 2002 offense was an IRTO and therefore vacated the judgment and remanded for resentencing.

The court reversed defendant's convictions for second-degree property damage and fourth-degree assault because the trial court failed to conduct an adequate Faretta hearing and failed to ensure a written waiver of counsel was entered prior to trial, as required by Missouri law. Although the defendant did not preserve the issue by objecting at trial, the court found the error must be reviewed because the failure to conduct a proper Faretta hearing is a constitutional violation that cannot be waived.

Gerald Nytes appealed his conviction for violating a full order of protection, arguing the State failed to prove he had notice of the order as required by statute. The court affirmed, finding sufficient evidence of notice based on Nytes's presence at the contested order of protection hearing and his subsequent violation through phone calls made from jail to the protected party.

Appellant Deandre Walton appealed his convictions for two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm, arguing the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress statements and admitting evidence of his statements at trial. The appellate court affirmed the convictions, finding no error in the trial court's denial of the suppression motion.

Appellant Derrie Williams appealed the denial of his Rule 29.15 post-conviction relief motion, arguing he was denied effective assistance of counsel because trial counsel failed to allow him to testify and failed to investigate and call two witnesses. The court affirmed the motion court's judgment denying post-conviction relief, finding that the motion court's findings of fact and conclusions of law were not clearly erroneous.

The court affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief where appellant claimed ineffective assistance of counsel for trial counsel's failure to investigate his mental state. The appellant failed to establish how additional mental state information would have aided his defense or satisfied the prejudice requirement for an ineffective assistance of counsel claim.

Eggleston appealed his conviction for possession of methamphetamine found in the vehicle he was driving, arguing insufficient evidence of knowing possession. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, finding sufficient evidence supported the guilty verdict based on the methamphetamine discovered in the driver's side dashboard cubby within reach of the driver's seat.

The appellate court affirmed the trial court's denial of post-conviction relief, finding that Ferguson failed to establish ineffective assistance of counsel for trial counsel's failure to call witnesses in his favor. The court concluded that Ferguson did not proffer the names of any viable defense witnesses and that witness selection constitutes trial strategy.

Amanda Rogers appealed her conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, challenging both the sufficiency of evidence and the legality of the vehicle stop that led to the firearm's discovery. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, upholding the conviction and rejection of Rogers's motion to suppress.

David K. Duncan, Sr. was convicted of three counts of first-degree statutory rape and six counts of second-degree child molestation of his granddaughter. The appellate court affirmed the convictions, finding that the trial court properly admitted evidence of Duncan's statement to the victim that he had sex with his wife at the same age as the victim, ruling this was logically and legally relevant and not improper propensity evidence.

The Missouri Supreme Court upheld section 577.023.2, which allows circuit courts rather than juries to determine whether prior DWI convictions occurred on separate occasions for purposes of charging a persistent offender felony. The court rejected the defendant's argument that this procedure facially violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, finding the statute constitutional and that the circuit court lacked authority to dismiss the felony charge.

The defendant was convicted of first-degree rape and second-degree burglary. The appellate court affirmed the rape conviction but reversed the burglary conviction due to plain error in the jury instruction regarding second-degree burglary.

The court affirmed the denial of post-conviction relief for Harry Little's convictions for murder in the second degree, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Trial counsel's decisions not to call an alibi witness and not to argue a specific alternative perpetrator in closing argument constituted reasonable trial strategy rather than ineffective assistance of counsel.

The court affirmed the defendant's conviction on two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree, finding sufficient evidence that the defendant applied physical force that overcame the victim's reasonable resistance, constituting forcible compulsion. The defendant's arguments that the state's evidence was insufficient to prove forcible compulsion were rejected.

Craig Wood appealed the overruling of his Rule 29.15 motion for postconviction relief challenging his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence for the 2014 abduction and murder of 10-year-old Hailey Owens. The court affirmed the motion court's judgment, finding no ineffective assistance of counsel or other grounds for postconviction relief warranting reversal of Wood's conviction and sentence.

Robinson was convicted of resisting arrest as a class E felony when he fled from arrest on an outstanding warrant for burglary in the first degree. The court affirmed, holding that resisting arrest can be elevated to a felony when the arrest is for a felony offense regardless of whether the arrest is made with or without a warrant.