Michael Shewmaker, Warden, South Central Correctional Center Missouri Cases

Robert J. Branson sought habeas corpus relief, arguing his life sentence for first-degree child molestation was unlawful because his guilty plea lacked a sufficient factual basis to support a class A felony, contending it should have been a class B felony. The Missouri Supreme Court denied relief, holding that Branson waived his sentencing claim by failing to raise it in his Rule 24.035 postconviction motion. The Court clarified that sentencing errors are not jurisdictional defects that permit habeas review of procedurally defaulted claims and explicitly overruled prior precedent to the contrary.