Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Date unavailable
Levi D. Lauck, Appellant, vs. State of Missouri, Respondent.
Levi D. Lauck appealed the denial of his Rule 29.15 motion for post-conviction relief, following his convictions for domestic assault and armed criminal action. Lauck claimed his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to locate and subpoena his stepfather and for not objecting to testimony about his post-Miranda silence. The appellate court affirmed the motion court's judgment, finding counsel's efforts to locate the stepfather were reasonable and his testimony would not have provided a viable defense, and that the decision not to object to the silence testimony was a strategic one.