Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Mar 30, 2021
State of Missouri vs. David Jose Escalona
David Escalona appealed his conviction for possession of a controlled substance and failure to appear, arguing the trial court improperly based his sentence on his decision to go to trial rather than plead guilty. The appellate court affirmed the judgment and sentence. It held that the trial court explicitly stated it did not consider Escalona's exercise of his right to trial, but rather properly considered his continued denial of responsibility and his perjury during trial when determining the sentence.