Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Nov 1, 2022
Reno Whitt, Jr., Appellant, v. State of Missouri, Respondent.
Reno Whitt appealed the denial of his Rule 29.15 motion for post-conviction relief. He contended the trial court erred by not conducting an independent inquiry into whether post-conviction counsel abandoned him due to untimely filing, and by denying his claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel without an evidentiary hearing. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, concluding that an abandonment inquiry was unnecessary because all of Whitt's claims had been adjudicated, and his ineffective assistance claims lacked sufficient factual allegations.