Criminal Law: Sentencing - Amendment - Authority  (access required)

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  (access required)

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  (access required)

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 (access required)

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 (access required)

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  (access required)

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 [...]

Civil Practice: Judgment On Pleadings - Sua Sponte Action - Enforcement Of Settlement (access required)

Paragon Lawns, Inc. v. Barefoot, Inc. (MLW No. 60339/Case No. WD71111 - 5 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Welsh, J.)
Where a party brought a motion to enforce a settlement agreement and the trial court entered judgment on the pleadings sua sponte in favor of the plaintiff, the defendant was denied an opportunity to [...]

Administrative: Dental License - Additional Discipline - Agency Records  (access required)

Moore v. Missouri Dental Board (MLW No. 60340/Case No. WD71065 - 24 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Martin, J.)
Even though records from a dentist’s prior disciplinary proceeding were not properly before the Missouri Dental Board in a proceeding to impose additional discipline because the board did not take official notice of the records, [...]

Workers’ Compensation: Second Injury Fund - Past Medical Benefits - Payment To Claimant  (access required)

Skinner v. Morgan, et al. (MLW No. 60332/Case No. SD30019 - 8 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Lynch, P.J.)
Where the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission ordered the Second Injury Fund to pay a claimant for his past medical benefits instead of making payment to the medical providers, which the fund argued was erroneous, [...]

Negligence: Wrongful Death - Settlement Proceeds - Apportionment  (access required)

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 [...]

  • FEWER SLICES OF THE PIE (access required)
    Larry Jenab is the only new partner at Kansas City-based Spencer Fane Britt & Browne. “I was the guy up this year, and I was delighted to find out I was elected,” he says. Missouri’s top firms by revenue reduced their collective new partner elections by 26 percent this year. Photo by Matt Frye

  • In this issue of Missouri Lawyers Weekly

    NEW PARTNERS 2010: FEWER SLICES OF THE PIE
    Making partner at a law firm is like finally noshing on a juicy piece of a pie you’ve spent years laboring to bake. So it’s a punch to the gut to see the recession has snatched pieces away from more Missouri associates this year.

    Firms step up promotions of women
    When Amy Blaisdell joined Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale as a summer associate in 2000, she was newly married and five years from having her first child.

    ASK FOR IT
    Thirty years ago, when Mary Bonacorsi walked into a deposition, usually the only woman staring back at her was the court reporter.

    Real estate rebound: Practice area shows growth
    This year’s new partner announcements showed a 30 percent jump from last year in the number of promoted real estate attorneys in Missouri. That’s nine new partners in a practice area the financial crisis hit hard.

    New Partner Lists
    Click on this link to see New Partners for 2010.

    Got bilked?
    Scammers crept close to the trust account of Gladstone plaintiffs attorney Gregory Leyh last month until his wife and law partner, Jan Leyh, raised tax questions about the case. While Gregory Leyh sought answers to the questions, the $350,000 he deposited in his account turned up counterfeit.

    CoxHealth apologizes 
    It’s a situation that turns the typical personal injury lawsuit timeline on its head: Hospital officials admit upfront that an employee made a potentially harmful or fatal error. It releases data on the exact number of affected people and the cause of the error. Perhaps most important, they say they are “deeply sorry.” 

    Jury awards $11M over hog farm
    Jackson County Judge Jay Daugherty repeated 13 times the figure “$825,000″ Thursday afternoon as tearful farmers from Berlin, Mo., sat on the edges of the seat cushions they’d warmed for four weeks. 

    St. Louis County police target unlicensed officers
    An announcement last week from St. Louis County Police Chief Timothy Fitch has perked the ears of St. Louis criminal defense attorneys. 

    DAs may replace prosecutors
    Missouri is big on local government. The state has 523 school districts. It has 114 counties plus the separate city of St. Louis. And each of those counties has its own elected prosecuting attorney. But some in law enforcement and at the Capitol think that’s too many.

    ‘Zombie’ plaintiffs can sue officers for arrest, but leg seizure allowed
    Seven men and women, arrested after they dressed as zombies to protest “mindless” consumerism at a Minneapolis summer festival, can resurrect one of their civil rights claims as the result of a decision by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 

    Scenes from the 20th Annual Justice for All Ball
    Some 650 people attended the 20th anniversary Justice for All Ball at the Chase Park Plaza in St. Louis, and many of them ended up on the dance floor.

    Four Verdicts & Settlements, which can be found here.

    Twenty-four opinions, which can be found here.

  • Looking for published lawyers

    Missouri Lawyers Weekly is putting together a section on new books authored by Missouri lawyers. Have you published in the last year? We would like to tell people about your book and talk to you about the rigors of publishing. Doesn’t matter if your book is on a legal topic or not, we’d like to hear from you. Send an e-mail to editor Richard Jackoway at richard.jackoway@molawyersmedia.com.

  • Latest Missouri Lawyers Weekly News

  • MLM Photos

    Click here to visit our photo store and order prints of these photos and more!

  • About Missouri Lawyers Weekly

    Missouri Lawyers Weekly, which was founded in 1987, reports on legal decisions issued by all the state and federal courts in Missouri, as well as changes to court rules, verdict and settlement reports, bar-discipline notices and all other news vital to attorneys and legal professionals in the state.

    Subscribers to Missouri Lawyers Weekly have access to numerous website and e-mail benefits, including archives that go back to 1990. Subscribers also receive: daily e-mail alerts containing case summaries and other breaking legal news; access to the MO Lawyers Blog updated throughout the day; practice area alerts each Thursday containing links to decisions in their selected specialties; and much more.

    Subscribe to Missouri Lawyers Weekly.

    Already a subscriber? Register for online access.