Criminal Law: Death Penalty – Hearsay – Cross Examination

(1)Where a defendant, who was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder for killing two police officers, challenged the admission of a certified court record of the complaint of his conviction for possession of a prohibited item in prison, the complaint was admissible as a hearsay exception for certified records of judicial proceedings, and the defendant pleaded guilty to the complaint, so the evidence was relevant to his character.

(2)Where a defendant, convicted of first-degree murder, did not object to the state’s questions to his expert witness regarding the foundations of a book or a study about which the expert testified, he was not entitled to plain error review for his challenges to the foundation of the book or the study, and the state’s cross examination of the expert was relevant and admissible, and the trial court did not err in failing to intercede sua sponte during the state’s closing argument or in its submission of a verdict mechanics or mitigating circumstances instructions.

(3)Where a first-degree murder defendant argued that the trial court erred in sentencing him to death because the information did not charge him with aggravated first-degree murder and failed to plead any aggravating circumstances, the  argument is precluded by the law-of-the-case doctrine since the defendant unsuccessfully raised the claim in his first appeal, and after proportionality review, the court upholds the death sentence.

Judgment is affirmed.

State v. Tisius (MLW No. 63373/Case No. SC91209 – 21 pages) (Supreme Court of Missouri, Draper III, J.; all concur) Appealed from circuit court, Boone County, Oxenhandler, J. (Jeannie Willibey, Kansas City, Missouri, for appellant) (Richard Starnes, Jefferson City, for respondent).

Read the full text of this opinion. (PDF)