Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / May 1, 2018
Donald Jeffcott, Appellant, vs. State of Missouri, Respondent.
Donald Jeffcott appealed the partial grant and denial of his Rule 24.035 motion for post-conviction relief after pleading guilty to nine sex offenses. The motion court found his plea counsel ineffective for failing to advise him that hand-to-genital contact did not constitute "deviate sexual intercourse" for portions of the charged timeframe for statutory sodomy (Counts I and II) and for the entire timeframe for incest (Count III). The appellate court affirmed the motion court's decision to modify Counts I and II to lesser-included offenses and order resentencing. However, it reversed the denial of relief for Count III, remanding with instructions to vacate the guilty plea and sentence for that count.