Woman wins lawsuit over mother’s murder 
A Jackson County jury awarded $3 million to a woman suing her stepfather for the shooting death of her mother.
Defendant John Koch Jr., 72, now a patient at Fulton State Hospital, was found mentally incompetent to stand for a criminal trial for the murder of his wife, so Kristie Kramer filed a wrongful death lawsuit [...]
Rape kit, lab reports surface in Clemons case
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office dropped a bombshell last week in the death penalty case against Reginald Clemons. Nearly two decades after the killings of two young women in St. Louis, prosecutors say they turned up more evidence in the case: three lab reports and biological samples collected from a victim’s body.
Criminal Law: Sentencing - Amendment - Authority
State ex rel. Dwight K. Scroggins Jr. v. Kellogg (MLW No. 60337/Case No. WD71763 - 7 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Pfeiffer, P.J.)
Where a trial court granted a defendant’s motion to make his sentences run concurrently instead of consecutively, the court lacked authority to do so, and the court erred in using Rule [...]
Criminal Law: Second-Degree Murder - Double Jeopardy - Closing Arguments
State v. Prince (MLW No. 60343/Case No. WD70337 - 23 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Martin, J.)
Where a defendant was convicted of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action, the defendant did not show a violation of right to be free from double jeopardy, and the convictions are affirmed [...]
Criminal Law: Rape - Statute Of Limitations - Amendments
State v. Maples (MLW No. 60344/Case No. WD70313 - 10 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Welsh, P.J.)
Where a defendant argued that his prosecution for forcible rape and sodomy were barred by the statute of limitations, at the time that the offenses were committed and at the time the indictment was filed, there was [...]
Criminal Law: First-Degree Murder - Dying Declaration - Deliberation
State v. Minner (MLW No. 60342/Case No. WD70338 - 24 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Martin, J.)
(1)Where an officer gave hearsay testimony in a first-degree murder trial that the victim implicated the defendant as his murderer, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the testimony as a dying declaration because [...]
Criminal Law: Drug Trafficking - Accomplice Liability - Sufficiency Of Evidence
State v. Jackson (MLW No. 60341/Case No. WD70627 - 8 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Pfeiffer, J.)
Where a defendant was charged with drug trafficking under an accomplice theory of liability, the state met its burden to prove that the defendant knowingly participated in the enterprise through testimony from officers and the defendant’s girlfriend, [...]
Criminal Law: Costs - Recovery Against State - Amended Statute
State v. Arteaga (MLW No. 60338/Case No. WD71425 - 4 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Welsh, P.J.)
Where a defendant found not guilty of second-degree murder requested that costs be taxed against the county prosecutor, the legislature has amended the statute during the pending of this appeal, so the trial court’s denial of the [...]
Negligence: Wrongful Death - Settlement Proceeds - Apportionment
Banner v. Owsley (MLW No. 60333/Case No. SD29802 - 14 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Quitno, Sp. J.)
Where a trial court apportioned a wrongful death settlement so that a son, from an earlier relationship and whom the decedent did not support, received only 5 percent with greater percentages going to his mother, wife [...]
Criminal Law: Drug Possession - Joint Control - Sufficiency Of Evidence
State v. Buford (MLW No. 60336/Case No. SD29601 - 18 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Burrell, J.)
Where all three occupants of a vehicle acted nervous during a traffic stop, all three had outstanding warrants and crack cocaine was found on the floorboard near the defendant’s feet, nervousness or proximity alone is not enough [...]