Case summaries for Sept. 6-12, 2024

Criminal

License plate reader and good faith supported results of search warrant
The initial judicial determination that probable cause supported the issuance of a search warrant was due great deference on appeal and subject to reversal only on clear error. Clear error did not result from unlawfully obtained information if probable cause had independent support in lawfully obtained information. Such information came from surveillance, security, and license plate reading cameras; and from the crime scene. That evidence did not show that the fatal gunshots came from defendant, but they did show that the shots came from defendant’s car, so a fair probability existed that evidence of a crime was in the defendant’s residence. And good faith execution of the warrant negated exclusion of evidence obtained under the warrant. On the omission of a required instruction, defendant affirmatively embraced the circuit court’s remedy, waiving any error, including plain error.
State of Missouri vs. Dakkota Siders
Missouri Court of Appeals-Western District – WD85549

All exercise of authority except discharge prohibited
Circuit court authority over a criminal action ended with conviction unless the sentence included probation. The circuit court could extend its authority over probation past the period of probation only to adjudicate pre-expiration matters, and only if the circuit court “affirmatively manifested an intent to conduct a revocation hearing,” and made every reasonable effort to give the probationer notice and hold a hearing. When the probationer’s probation expired without the circuit court issuing notice of the hearing to the probationer, the circuit court lost authority. The Court of Appeals made permanent its preliminary writ of prohibition barring further action, except discharge of the probationer from probation, which the Court of Appeals ordered.
STATE OF MISSOURI ex rel. JOANNA WRINKLE, Relator v THE HONORABLE DAVID COLE, CIRCUIT JUDGE, Respondent
Missouri Court of Appeals-Southern District – SD38419

A 9mm was a firearm
On a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by being a felon in possession of a firearm, the elements included possession of a firearm. Statutes defined a firearm as any weapon “designed or adapted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive.” Evidence that defendant was in possession of an exhibit that witnesses identified as a 9 millimeter pistol, and the circuit court’s examination of that exhibit, supported a finding that the pistol was a firearm. The Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court’s judgment of guilty.
STATE OF MISSOURI, Plaintiff-Respondent vs. STEVEN A. BENFORD, Defendant-Appellant
Missouri Court of Appeals-Southern District – SD38101