DUANE MICHAUD Missouri Cases

Duane Michaud was convicted of attempted enticement of a child and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. On appeal, Michaud claimed the circuit court erred by refusing his proffered jury instructions regarding the victim's age and by sustaining an objection during cross-examination. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, finding no error in the jury instructions as the state's MAI-conforming instructions implicitly covered the knowledge element. The Court also found the cross-examination claim unpreserved due to a lack of an offer of proof and no plain error.

Duane Michaud was convicted of attempted enticement of a child after a jury trial and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. On appeal, Michaud argued the trial court erred by rejecting his proposed jury instruction, which included a knowledge-of-age element, and by accepting the State's instruction, which omitted it. The appellate court reversed the judgment and remanded the case, holding that the verdict-directing instruction given to the jury conflicted with substantive law by omitting the required mens rea element that Michaud knew or believed the victim was under fifteen years of age.