Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District Digest: Oct. 31, 2022

Appellate Practice

Inadequate Brief

Order Of Protection

Where a pro se appellant challenged the grant of a full order of protection, the appeal must be dismissed due to numerous briefing deficiencies.

Appeal is dismissed.

J.H. v. A.B. (MLW No. 79026/Case No. WD85257 – 4 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Mitchell, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Jackson County, Castle, J. (J.H., pro se) (A.B., pro se).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=190020

Inadequate Brief

Unemployment Compensation

Where a claimant of unemployment compensation challenged a decision disqualifying him from benefits, the appeal must be dismissed because the pro se claimant fundamentally failed to follow the basic appellate briefing rules.

Appeal dismissed.

Ferguson v. Division of Employment Security (MLW No.79025/Case No. WD85295 – 6 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Pfeiffer, J.) Appealed from the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (William Ferguson, pro se) (Sarah Devlin, Jefferson City, for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=190021

Criminal Law

Sentencing

Persistent Offender

Interstate Agreement on Detainers

Where a defendant challenged his conviction and sentence after being convicted on offenses that included rape, sodomy and kidnapping, under the applicable provision of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers, the 180-day time limit applied and the defendant was tried within those 180 days, but the state failed to meet its burden to prove that the defendant was a persistent offender, so the sentence is vacated and the case is remanded.

Judgment is affirmed; remanded for sentencing.

State v. Crosby (MLW No. 79029/Case No. WD84848 – 12 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Ardini Jr., J.) Appealed from circuit court, Jackson County, Byrn, J. (Kathryn Merwald, Kansas City, MO for respondent) (Zeb Charlton, Jefferson City, for appellant).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=190016

Unanimous Verdict

Statutory Rape

Multiple Acts

Where a defendant challenged a conviction for statutory rape and patronizing prostitution as a prior offender, arguing that the trial court plainly erred by submitting verdict directors that failed to sufficiently specify a particular incident of statutory rape in the first degree and a particular incident of patronizing prostitution, which deprived him of his right to a unanimous verdict, this was not a “multiple acts” case for either offense, because evidence and victim testimony established single incidents of the crime during the time period described in the instruction.

Judgment is affirmed.

State v. Gannan (MLW No. 79023/Case No. WD84655 – 20 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Martin, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Sullivan County, Tschannen, J. (James Egan, Columbia, MO for appellant) (Kristen S. Johnson, Jefferson City, MO for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=190013

Domestic Relations

Division Of Property

Limited Liability Company

Children’s Vehicles

Where a husband challenged the judgment in a dissolution case, arguing that the trial court improperly awarded the wife’s membership interest in a limited liability company to him, the award did not violate the LLC’s operating agreement nor any statutory provision, and the court does not favor leaving marital property jointly vested in parties to a dissolution, and a credit to wife for unreimbursed marital expenses and an award of half of a trust’s assets to wife was proper, but the finding that two vehicles were gifted to the couple’s children is reversed because there was no substantial evidence to indicate that the vehicles were titled to the children.

Judgment is affirmed in part; reversed and remanded in part.

Sporleder v. Sporleder (MLW No. 79028/Case No. WD85008 – 22 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Thomson, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Boone County, Jacobs, J. (Gary L. Stamper, Columbia, for respondent) (Edward C. Clausen, Jefferson City, for appellant).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=190018

Parental Rights

Responsive Pleading

Default Judgment

Where a mother challenged the termination of her parental rights and the denial of her motion to set aside the judgment, the trial court erred by entering a default judgment against the mother when she was excused from filing a responsive pleading by Rule 113.03.

Judgment is reversed and remanded.

Juvenile Officer v. D.G. (MLW No. 79027/Case No. WD85225 – 12 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Ahuja, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Cole County, Beetem, J. (Curtis G. Hanrahan and William P. Nacy, Jefferson City, for appellant) (Mark I. Pierce and Arturo A. Hernandez III, Jefferson City, for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=190019

Revival Of Judgment

Timeliness

Where a mother appealed a judgment denying her motion for a revival of judgment in a dissolution case, the father’s 2010 motion to modify and amended 2011 motion did not revive the judgment, and the father adequately established the untimeliness defense, so the judgment is affirmed.

Judgment is affirmed.

Alamin v. Alamin (MLW No. 79031/Case No. WD84813 – 13 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Ardini Jr., J.) Appealed from circuit court, Jackson County, Rodecap, J. (Preston A. Drobeck, Kansas City, MO for respondent) (Londa S. Shabazz, Kansas City, MO for appellant).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=190014

Workers’ Compensation

Second Injury Fund

PPD

Cumulative Injuries

Where a claimant challenged the denial of compensation from the Second Injury Fund, substantial evidence supported the finding that no preexisting disability from the 2001 injury resulted in permanent partial disability of at least 50 weeks, and the commission had the discretion in how to address cumulative injuries, so the judgment is affirmed since the commission also did not err in interpreting Section 287.220.3 to require the disabilities resulting from the 2001 injury to individually meet the 50-week threshold.

Dissenting opinion by Witt, J. “I would find that the Commission should have, per the evidence, including the 2001 stipulation to which the Fund was a party, determined that the disability arising from the 2001 accident was a qualifying disability under section 287.220, and thus should have been considered in determining Fund liability for Adams’s permanent total disability.”

Judgment is affirmed.

Adams v. Treasurer (MLW No. 79030/Case No. WD84818 – 30 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Thomson, J.) Appealed from the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission (Daniel L. Doyle and Robert Bruce, Kansas City, KS for appellant) (Kimberly Cox Fournier, Kansas City, MO for respondent).

https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=190017