Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District Digest: May 9, 2022

Appellate Practice

Inadequate Brief

Marijuana Facility Licenses

Where appellant challenged the dismissal of his petition with prejudice in a case involving medical marijuana licenses, the pro se brief failed to comply with the briefing requirements of Rule 84.04, so the appeal must be dismissed.

Appeal is dismissed.

Stevenson v. Department of Health and Senior Services (MLW No. 78261/Case No. WD84787 – 6 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Gabbert, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Jackson County, Torrence, J. (Ricky L. Stevenson, Kansas City, pro se) (Mary Moulton, Jefferson City, for respondents).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186521

Civil Practice

Sex Offender Registration

Retroactive Reduction

Eligibility

Where appellant challenged the entry of summary judgment for the state highway patrol and county on her action seeking a declaration that she did not have to register as a sex offender, the uncontroverted facts showed that the appellant was required to register under the Missouri law because she had been required to register under the federal law, and the state was also entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of her ineligibility for a retroactive reduction in her registration period.

Judgment is affirmed.

MacColl v. Missouri State Highway Patrol (MLW No.78262/Case No. WD84739 – 11 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Mitchell, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Boone County, Harris, J. (Richard B. Hicks and Roger W. Johnson, Columbia, for appellant) (Merilee A. Crockett, Columbia, for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186520

Constitutional Law

Medical Marijuana Licensing

Numerical Limits

Right To Farm

Where unsuccessful applicants for medical marijuana licensing challenged Missouri regulations that limited the number of licenses to be issued, the trial court properly found that the state had not acted arbitrarily and capriciously in limiting the licenses, and the regulations had a rational relationship to the state’s constitutional objectives, and the applicants also did not show that the license limitations violated the “Right to Farm” amendment.

Judgment is affirmed.

Sarcoxie Nursery Cultivation Center v. Williams (MLW No. 78264/Case No. WD84492 – 22 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Ahuja, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Cole County, Joyce, J. (Joseph P. Bednar Jr., Jefferson City, for appellants) (Gerald M. Jackson, Jefferson City, for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186518

Criminal Law

Elderly Exploitation

Jury Instruction

Undue Influence

Where a defendant challenged her conviction for financial exploitation of an elderly person, there was no evidence that the defendant obtained control over her father’s bank account or assets by undue influence because the probate court ordered her to take control when it appointed her as his guardian and conservator, and the verdict directing instruction differed from the charge, so the judgment is reversed.

Judgment is reversed.

State v. Forbes (MLW No. 78269/Case No. WD84052 – 14 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Witt, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Saline County, Rolf, J. (Gregory L. Barnes, Jefferson City, for respondent) (Anthony W. Bonuchi for appellant).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186513

Post-Conviction Relief

Missing Transcript

Where a pro se defendant challenged the denial of his Rule 29.15 motion, the defendant failed to provide a complete record including a transcript of the relevant hearings, so the appeal is dismissed.

Appeal is dismissed.

Sullivan v. State (MLW No. 78267/Case No. WD84361 – 4 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Witt, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Boone County, Harris, J. (John Sullivan, pro se) (Daniel Neal McPherson for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186515

Terry Stop

Reasonable Suspicion

Motion To Suppress

Where a defendant challenged his conviction for the unlawful possession of a firearm, a racial profiling claim was not preserved for review, and the trial court did not err in denying the motion to suppress because the officer had reasonable suspicion to detain the defendant under the totality of the circumstances, and the court also did not err in admitting the defendant’s voluntary statements, the firearm and the lawfully discovered ammunition, so the judgment is affirmed.

Judgment is affirmed.

State v. Higgs (MLW No. 78268/Case No. WD84161 – 27 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Thomson, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Boone County, Jacobs, J. (Richard A. Starnes for respondent) (William J. Swift for appellant).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186514

Domestic Relations

Child Support

Reporting Requirements

Waiver

Where a husband challenged a judgment ordering child support on the basis that the child failed to comply with the reporting requirements for children involved in higher education, the husband failed to plead non-compliance with the notification requirements, so any claims based on such non-compliance were waived, and his other points were not preserved for review due to briefing deficiencies and omissions, so the judgment is affirmed.

Judgment is affirmed.

Craig v. Craig (MLW No. 78263/Case No. WD84571 – 8 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Mitchell, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Macon County, Greenwell, J. (Jonathan Sternberg, Kansas City, MO for respondent) (Cory Wayne Craig, pro se).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186519

Probate Law

Claim Against Estate

Personal Loan

Right To Open Court

Where a personal representative for an estate challenged a judgment that found that the deceased failed to establish by competent evidence that she was entitled to payment from the respondent’s estate for any personal loans, the trial court did not err in issuing its judgment without additional evidence regarding the claim since the insurance policy that was purported to be the basis of the claim did not represent a contract in which the decedent agreed to repay the alleged personal loan, and the personal representative failed to preserve a claim that the court’s actions violated the right to an open court under the Missouri Bill of Rights.

Judgment is affirmed.

Clark v. Smith (MLW No. 78265/Case No. WD84408 – 11 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Gabbert, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Jackson County, Styles Jr., J. (Shane Britton Lillich, Bonner Springs, KS for appellant) (Robert H. Schnieders, Oak Grove, for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186517

Claim Against Estate

Unpaid Loans

Standing

Where appellant challenged the dismissal of its claim against an estate for allegedly unpaid personal loans to the deceased, the trial court did not err in finding that the appellant did not have standing for its claim because the statute required corporations with articles forfeited to initiate suits within three years of the forfeiture, and none of the unpaid loans vested in the appellant upon the reinstatement of its articles of incorporation.

Judgment is affirmed.

Kansas City Chrome Shop, Inc. v. Smith (MLW No. 78266/Case No. WD84407 – 15 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Gabbert, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Jackson County, Styles Jr., J. (Shane B. Lillich, Bonner Springs, KS for appellant) (Robert H. Schnieders, Oak Grove, for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186516

Unemployment Compensation

Denial Of Benefits

Failure To Appear

Good Cause

Where a claimant appealed after his application for review was denied because the claimant had not alleged good cause for failure to appear at the evidentiary hearing, the appeal is dismissed because the amended brief also failed to comply with the briefing requirements of Rule 84.04.

Appeal is dismissed.

Garey v. Division of Employment Security (MLW No. 78260/Case No. WD84831 – 6 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals Western District, Witt, J.) Appealed from the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (Evan J. Garey, pro se) (Andrea Mazza Follett, Jefferson City, for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=186522