Aug. 23 – Aug. 29
Criminal
Record Clarifies Sentence
Appellant had a tattoo and wore a garment colored differently from other persons in photo line-up, but a distinctive appearance does not make the lineup subjective, and photos eliminated appellant’s distinctive features. Firearm not used in the offense charged but found in the car that perpetrators used, was relevant. Appellant did not show that instructions from accomplice’s separate trial had any effect on appellant’s trial. Sentence announced in court was, considering the entire record, sufficiently clear that Court of Appeals can modify the written judgment to conform with the spoken judgment.
State of Missouri, Respondent, vs. Dale L. Wolford, Appellant.
(Overview Summary)
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District – ED106522
No Writing Needed for Implied Waiver of Counsel
Defendant never objects to defendant’s own waiver of counsel, so defendant’s objection is not necessary to preserve error in allowing that waiver, except plain error as to whether the waiver is in writing. After numerous discussions in five appearances before two judges in the course of a year, defendant’s nonresponsive answers to circuit court inquiry “made it clear that any additional inquiry would be redundant and futile [,]” and that defendant had made a “waiver of his right to counsel [that] was voluntary, unequivocal, knowing, and intelligent.” Statute that requires a writing for waiver of counsel does not apply to an implied waiver of counsel, as when defendant refused to retain counsel and to expressly waive counsel.
State of Missouri vs. Timothy Keith Ndon
(Overview Summary)
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District – WD81737
No Motion to Sever was Sound Strategy
Of four counts of sodomy, trial counsel did not move to sever three charges from the one charge on which a jury found movant guilty, but movant showed no prejudice that required severance, so the grant of a motion to sever was unlikely. Trial counsel’s strategic choice was therefore sound.
Edward J. Frederick vs. State of Missouri
(Overview Summary)
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District – WD81721
Expungement Required
On a claim for expunging a misdemeanor conviction, plaintiff’s elements include no finding of guilt on a misdemeanor charge within the three years before filing the petition for expungement. Plaintiff made that showing. Judgment denying expungement reversed and remanded for entry of a judgment granting expungement.
S.V. vs. Kenton Askren, et al
(Overview Summary)
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District – WD82451
DWI
Revocations Distinguished
On driver’s appeal from a revocation for refusing a chemical test, circuit court reinstated driver’s license for lack of proof that driver was driving while intoxicated, but the statutes provide that Director of Revenue needed only to show reasonable grounds for believing that driver was driving while intoxicated. Reversed and remanded for circuit court to apply the correct standard.
TYLER J. ROMINES, Petitioner-Respondent vs. DIRECTOR OF REVENUE, STATE OF MISSOURI, Respondent-Appellant
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District – SD35774