Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Date unavailable
STATE OF MISSOURI, Plaintiff-Respondent v. JAMES LEE HOPKINS, III, Defendant-Appellant
James Lee Hopkins, III appealed his convictions for first-degree trespass, second-degree burglary, and first-degree arson. He argued the circuit court abused its discretion by excluding expert testimony regarding the fire's single point of origin, which he claimed made arson unlikely. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, finding no reversible error. It concluded that even if the exclusion was an abuse of discretion, the error was not prejudicial because the expert's testimony was cumulative to other evidence presented.