Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Mar 3, 2026
Gregory Stiens, individually and as trustee, appealed the circuit court's judgment in favor of the Rosenbohms on their adverse possession and trespass claims, and against Stiens's counterclaims. Stiens challenged evidentiary rulings, jury instructions, and the property description in the judgment. The appellate court affirmed the judgment on all points of error raised by Stiens regarding the trial proceedings and outcomes. However, the court remanded the case for the circuit court to amend the judgment to include proper legal descriptions of the disputed property awarded to the Rosenbohms.
Supreme Court of Missouri / Jan 13, 2026
Craig M. Wood appealed the denial of his Rule 29.15 motion for postconviction relief from his first-degree murder conviction and death sentence for the abduction and murder of Hailey Owens. Wood raised numerous claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, and judicial bias. The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed the motion court's judgment, finding its findings and conclusions were not clearly erroneous and that Wood failed to demonstrate ineffective assistance or prejudice.
Supreme Court of Missouri / Jan 13, 2026
The State of Missouri sought a writ of prohibition after the circuit court dismissed a felony DWI charge against Richard James Johnson, who was charged as a persistent offender. The circuit court found the persistent offender statute, section 577.023.2, facially unconstitutional for violating Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights by requiring a judge, not a jury, to find predicate facts for sentencing enhancement. The Supreme Court of Missouri made its preliminary writ of prohibition permanent, holding that the statute is not facially unconstitutional because existing procedural rules, such as Rule 27.02(s) and MAI-CR 4th 405.01, provide a mechanism for a jury to make the necessary findings. Therefore, the circuit court lacked authority to dismiss the charge.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jan 13, 2026
Jeffrey Lematty appealed his convictions for first-degree rape and second-degree burglary, alleging instructional errors, improper admission and exclusion of evidence, and insufficient evidence for burglary. The appellate court reversed Lematty's second-degree burglary conviction, finding plain error in the verdict directing instruction that misstated the law by potentially excusing the State from proving the unlawful entry element. The court affirmed the first-degree rape conviction and all other challenged aspects of the trial court's judgment.
Supreme Court of Missouri / Dec 29, 2025
Richard Neil Burkett was convicted of first-degree assault after a jury trial. On appeal, Burkett contended the circuit court erred by not submitting a self-defense instruction and by not giving a curative instruction regarding the State's closing argument. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, declining to review Burkett's unpreserved claims for plain error because he caused or contributed to the alleged errors and his claims were ill-suited for plain error review.
Supreme Court of Missouri / Dec 29, 2025
Isis S. Jones was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon after a jury trial. On appeal, Jones argued the circuit court plainly erred by accepting a jury verdict based on an instruction that varied from the charged offense, leading to an improper sentence. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the judgment, declining plain error review because Jones failed to establish that the alleged error was "facially evident, obvious, and clear," as shooting "into" a vehicle necessarily subsumes shooting "at" it.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Dec 23, 2025
Emonne Dillon appealed his convictions for second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and armed criminal action, stemming from a fatal shooting that occurred during a brawl. Dillon argued the trial court erred by refusing his non-MAI instructions on imperfect self-defense, denying his motion to strike a juror for cause, and admitting hearsay testimony. The appellate court affirmed, finding no error in the trial court's decisions regarding jury instructions, juror selection, or the admission of the challenged statement.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Dec 23, 2025
Karla Allsberry, a former circuit clerk, sued Judge Patrick Flynn and his secretary Kathy Hall for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the Circuit Court of Lincoln County (CCLC) for sex discrimination and retaliation under the MHRA. The trial court granted summary judgment on defamation, directed verdicts on the MHRA claims, and a jury verdict for Flynn on IIED. The appellate court affirmed all judgments, finding no evidence of actual malice for defamation, that the State of Missouri (not CCLC) was Allsberry's employer for MHRA purposes, and that the jury instruction on IIED's "sole purpose" element was a correct statement of law. It also found Allsberry's claims of trial error regarding attorney misconduct were not preserved.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Dec 9, 2025
Preston Gremminger was convicted by a jury of two counts of statutory sodomy, one count of statutory rape, and two counts of incest, receiving a 128-year prison sentence. On appeal, Gremminger claimed the circuit court erred by excluding evidence of a victim's prior sexual abuse allegation, improperly admitting propensity evidence, and rejecting lesser-included offense instructions. The appellate court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, finding no error in its rulings on these issues.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Nov 12, 2025
Patrick Logan Pulse appealed his convictions for first-degree assault and armed criminal action, stemming from shooting a Lyft driver, arguing self-defense at trial. On appeal, Pulse challenged the admission of three pieces of evidence: a video of his arrest, a video of him in a police car post-arrest, and his hospital records showing controlled substances. He also claimed instructional error for the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on the defense of others. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, affirmed the judgment, finding no merit to Pulse's claims of error regarding evidence admission or instructional error.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Nov 12, 2025
David Love appealed the denial of his Rule 29.15 motion for post-conviction relief after an evidentiary hearing. He argued that his trial counsel was ineffective for making gang references during voir dire, failing to include a limiting instruction for prior bad acts in jury instructions, and failing to quash the jury panel due to a fair cross-section violation. The appellate court affirmed the motion court's judgment, finding that while his amended motion was untimely and counsel abandoned him, remand was unnecessary, and Love failed to prove his ineffective assistance claims.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Nov 12, 2025
Danielle Lechocki appealed her conviction for attempted unlawful use of a weapon, arguing the trial court erred by refusing a self-defense jury instruction. She contended there was substantial evidence to support such an instruction, including conflicting testimony about who initiated the confrontation and her reasonable fear of imminent unlawful force given her physical condition. The appellate court agreed, reversing the conviction and remanding the case for retrial, holding that the evidence required a self-defense instruction and that factual issues regarding the degree of force and its justification were for the jury.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Sep 23, 2025
Deborah K. Lundstrom was convicted of multiple charges, including first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death and involuntary manslaughter, after a 9-month-old child died from asphyxiation in a car seat while left unsupervised at her unlicensed daycare. On appeal, Lundstrom challenged the sufficiency of the evidence for the death-related charges and argued the trial court plainly erred in a jury instruction. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, affirmed all convictions, finding sufficient evidence for both charges and no plain error in the jury instruction, as the terms "caused" and "results in" were deemed to have no meaningful difference in this context.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Sep 9, 2025
Ledra Craig appealed his convictions and sentences for first-degree murder and armed criminal action, following a jury trial. Craig argued the trial court erred by not removing a juror who recognized a witness and potentially saw him in shackles, and by not sua sponte intervening during the prosecutor's closing argument. The Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, finding no abuse of discretion in retaining the juror and no plain error in the prosecutor's remarks.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Aug 29, 2025
Andrew J. Cooper appealed his conviction for armed criminal action, arguing that the trial court erred by submitting a jury instruction on armed criminal action with involuntary manslaughter as the underlying felony. The appellate court affirmed the conviction, finding that Cooper failed to preserve the instructional error for review by not making a specific objection at trial or in his motion for new trial. The court declined to exercise plain error review, and further noted that even if reviewed, the argument would fail on the merits due to controlling Supreme Court of Missouri precedent.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Jul 29, 2025
Michael W. Myers appealed his convictions for first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and armed criminal action, challenging a jury instruction variance and a discrepancy between his oral and written sentences. The appellate court affirmed the convictions, finding no plain error in the jury instruction regarding transferred intent, as Myers was on notice of this theory and failed to show prejudice. However, the court reversed and remanded for a nunc pro tunc amendment to correct the written judgment, which incorrectly stated that certain sentences were to run consecutively when the oral pronouncement was silent, meaning they should run concurrently.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jul 22, 2025
Devin Griffin-Curry appealed his convictions for second-degree murder and armed criminal action, stemming from the fatal shooting of his neighbor. He argued violations of his speedy trial right, erroneous exclusion of diminished capacity testimony regarding ADHD, and improper acquittal-first closing arguments by the State. The appellate court affirmed the convictions, finding no speedy trial violation due to a lack of demonstrated prejudice, no abuse of discretion in excluding the ADHD testimony as it did not negate the required mental state, and that the improper closing argument was not prejudicial given the proper jury instructions and strong evidence of guilt.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Jul 14, 2025
Bobby Genaro Foreman, Jr. appealed his convictions for two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, arguing the trial court plainly erred by failing to include cross-references to self-defense and defense-of-others jury instructions in the verdict directors. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment. It concluded that, despite the instructional error, Foreman failed to demonstrate that the omission resulted in manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice, especially since the jury was generally instructed on the defenses and counsel argued them.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jul 8, 2025
Christopher Bolden appealed his convictions for second-degree murder and other charges, arguing the trial court plainly erred by not sua sponte instructing the jury on defense of others. Bolden claimed he shot the victim because the victim was choking his ex-girlfriend, but later recanted this story. The Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals disagreed, declining to conduct plain error review because Bolden recanted the only evidence supporting a defense-of-others instruction. The court affirmed the judgment of the trial court.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Jun 24, 2025
Brian Hensley appealed his sentence for involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, arguing the circuit court plainly erred by obtaining extrajudicial information from jurors before sentencing and by denying him the opportunity to cross-examine them. Hensley acknowledged the issue was unpreserved and requested plain error review. The Eastern District declined to conduct plain error review, finding no evident, obvious, and clear error or manifest injustice, and affirmed the circuit court's judgment.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / May 27, 2025
Mark Brandolese appealed the denial of his amended motion for post-conviction relief, following convictions for domestic assault and armed criminal action. He argued that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to properly address a statutorily disqualified venireperson and for failing to peremptorily strike her. Brandolese also claimed his appellate counsel was ineffective for not challenging the exclusion of an exculpatory statement. The appellate court affirmed the denial, finding Brandolese failed to prove actual bias or prejudice from the venireperson's service, and that appellate counsel's performance was not deficient regarding the unpreserved evidentiary issue.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / May 20, 2025
Todd Wilbert appealed his convictions for first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and trespass. He argued the circuit court plainly erred by allowing the State to comment on potential punishments during closing argument and abused its discretion by admitting victim character evidence. The Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, finding that even if errors occurred, the overwhelming evidence of Wilbert's guilt precluded a finding of prejudice necessary for plain error relief.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / May 6, 2025
Jeffery Lumzy appealed his convictions for murder, armed criminal action, burglary, unlawful possession of a firearm, and stealing a motor vehicle. He challenged the admission of text messages and evidence of uncharged kidnapping attempts, and argued that a jury instruction for first-degree burglary improperly lowered the State's burden of proof. The Eastern District of Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding no abuse of discretion in admitting the evidence and no plain error in the jury instruction.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Apr 29, 2025
Reyna Hotel Corporation and North Kansas City Hotel Corporation (Plaintiff Hotels) sued Lotus Hospitality Management, LLC, et al. (Defendants) for tortious interference with a business expectancy and conversion after Defendants, managing a Kansas City homeless housing program, refused to pay Plaintiff Hotels' invoices. A jury found for Plaintiff Hotels, and the trial court entered judgment. On appeal, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, reversed the judgment on the tortious interference claim and remanded for a new trial, holding that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the Defendants' agency affirmative defense. The judgment was affirmed in all other respects.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District / Apr 29, 2025
Daniel Overstreet appealed his convictions for multiple counts of first-degree statutory sodomy and attempted sodomy, arguing the circuit court plainly erred by giving shortened reminder recess instructions to the jury on three occasions. He claimed this error violated his rights to due process and a fair and impartial jury. The appellate court affirmed the judgment, concluding that Overstreet failed to demonstrate manifest injustice or a miscarriage of justice because his claim of prejudice was speculative and the jury had received the full instruction multiple times.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District / Apr 28, 2025
Brandy B. Shaddox appealed the denial of her Rule 29.15 motion for post-conviction relief, following her convictions for first-degree murder and other offenses. She claimed ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to pursue a diminished capacity defense and for errors related to jury instructions. The motion court denied her claims, finding counsel's decisions were reasonable trial strategy and that no prejudice resulted from the instructional errors. The appellate court affirmed the motion court's denial, concluding its findings were not clearly erroneous.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Apr 22, 2025
Korrie Black, Jr. appealed his convictions for second-degree murder and armed criminal action, arguing the trial court plainly erred by not sua sponte submitting a jury instruction on the castle doctrine. Black contended that the justified use of force under Section 563.031 RSMo should have been instructed. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding that Black failed to present substantial evidence to warrant a sua sponte instruction on the castle doctrine.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Apr 22, 2025
Marcell Smith appealed the denial of his Rule 29.15 amended motion for post-conviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel for not presenting mitigating evidence and ineffective assistance of appellate counsel for failing to raise the denial of a mistrial and a motion to suppress identification. The motion court denied relief, finding counsel's performance was not deficient and Smith was not prejudiced. The appellate court affirmed the motion court's judgment, concluding that Smith failed to satisfy the Strickland test for ineffective assistance of counsel on all three points.
Supreme Court of Missouri / Apr 15, 2025
David Thompson appealed his conviction for fourth-degree domestic assault and violating an order of protection, which arose from an incident where he struck his ex-boyfriend with a vehicle. Thompson claimed the circuit court erred by denying his right to counsel at a preliminary hearing, rejecting his proposed lesser-included offense instruction, and submitting a corrective instruction after the jury returned inconsistent verdicts. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment, concluding that all of Thompson's claims lacked merit.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District / Apr 15, 2025
Leonard Burst appealed his jury convictions for unlawful use of a weapon and fourth-degree assault. He argued the trial court erred in admitting a video, overruling an objection to the State's closing argument regarding burden-shifting, and plainly erred by omitting language from a jury instruction on witness credibility. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding no reversible error or manifest injustice.