Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jun 15, 2021
State of Missouri, Respondent, vs. Darin Schmidt, Appellant.
Darin Schmidt appealed his convictions for first-degree murder and armed criminal action following a jury trial for the shooting death of David Bewig, Jr. Schmidt contended the trial court plainly erred by admitting his out-of-court statements without independent proof of corpus delicti and by allowing witnesses to testify they believed his statements were true. The appellate court reversed and remanded for a new trial, finding that while the extrajudicial statements were admissible, it was plain error to allow witnesses to comment on the ultimate issue of Schmidt's guilt.