Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Mar 25, 2021
STATE OF MISSOURI, Respondent vs. KENNETH ROBERT DAVIS, Appellant
Kenneth Robert Davis was convicted of seven counts of physically abusing his 8-year-old daughter. On appeal, Davis claimed the trial court plainly erred by submitting verdict-directing instructions that were not specific enough to ensure a unanimous jury verdict, given evidence of multiple instances of each type of abuse. The appellate court declined to exercise its discretionary plain error review, finding that Davis failed to demonstrate substantial grounds for believing manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice resulted, and affirmed the trial court's judgment.