Criminal Law: Drug Possession - Sufficiency Of Evidence - Exigent Circumstances 
State v. Warren (MLW No. 60374/Case No. WD70671 - 11 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Welsh, J.)
(1)Where officers entered defendant’s home in response to an activated burglar alarm and saw marijuana and drug paraphernalia throughout the home, including readily accessible areas of the kitchen and bedroom, and the defendant did not act surprised [...]
Criminal Law: Traffic Stop - Pat-Down Search - Probable Cause
State v. Gambow (MLW No. 60370/Case No. SD30076 - 4 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Scott, C.J.)
Where an officer stopped a car for speeding and after smelling marijuana conducted a pat-down search of a passenger, the officer had probable cause for the traffic stop and consent for a vehicle search, but the officer [...]
Criminal Law: Post-Conviction Relief - Effectiveness Of Counsel - Pro Se Claims
Hardy v. State (MLW No. 60372/Case No. SD29650 - 6 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Scott, C.J.)
Where a defendant in a first-degree murder case claimed his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach a witness with inconsistencies from his testimony about the location of the victim when shot, the motion court properly [...]
Criminal Law: Post-Conviction Relief - Escape Rule
Stevens v. State (MLW No. 60368/Case No. SD29627 - 5 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Bates, J.)
Where a defendant failed to appear for a pretrial conference and a jury trial requiring two warrants to be issued for his arrest and then he went missing for almost a year while on probation, the escape [...]
Criminal Law: Sentencing - Persistent Offender
State v. Williams (MLW No. 60367/Case No. ED92466 - 3 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Mooney, J.)
Where the state did not show that a defendant qualified as a persistent offender for sentencing purposes, the trial court erred in entering a written judgment reflecting persistent offender status, and the judgment must be modified to [...]
Criminal Law: Post-Conviction Relief - Timeliness
Belfield v. State (MLW No. 60361/Case No. ED93559 - 4 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Odenwald, P.J.)
Where a defendant argued that he filed a timely but unverified motion for post-conviction relief, his allegations were not supported by the record, and the court properly denied the motion.
Judgment is affirmed.
Belfield v. State (MLW No. 60361/Case [...]
Criminal Law: Persistent Offender Status - Defendant’s Admissions - Stealing
State v. Page (MLW No. 60364/Case No. ED92706 - 12 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Odenwald, P.J.)
Where a defendant admitted his prior felony convictions on the record at his prior and persistent offender hearing, his own admissions were a sufficient basis for the trial court to find him to be a prior and [...]
Criminal Law: Burglary – Stealing - Sufficiency Of Evidence
State v. Gibbs (MLW No. 60365/Case No. ED92690 - 9 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Odenwald, P.J.)
Even though a defendant convicted of second-degree burglary was not arrested with any burglary tools or carrying bags and a jury acquitted him of a stealing charge, a jury reasonably could have found that the defendant entered [...]
Criminal Law: Speedy Trial Act - Continuance
U.S. v. Rector (MLW No. 60350/Case No. 09-1190 - 10 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Smith, J.)
Where a criminal defendant argued that the district court violated the Speedy Trial Act by failing to bring him to trial within 70 days of his arraignment, the judgment is affirmed because the district court properly excluded [...]
Criminal Law: Sex Offender - Registration - Prior Conviction
U.S. v. Myers (MLW No. 60351/Case No. 09-1621 - 6 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Benton, J.)
Where a defendant who pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender challenged the calculation of his base offense level and criminal history category for sentencing purposes, even if double-counting occurred in this case, it [...]