Criminal Law: First-Degree Murder and Assault-Sufficiency of Evidence

Staff Report//September 4, 2024//

Listen to this article

Defendant appealed his conviction for first-degree murder and assault, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and the trial court’s admission of a YouTube video of defendant rapping and holding an assault rifle. Defendant argued that the video was admitted for the improper purpose of showing that defendant was a bad person.

Where defendant opened the door to admission of the YouTube video by arguing that he did not have access to the murder weapon, there was no error in admitting the video, but there was insufficient evidence to support some of defendant’s assault convictions because defendant would not have known of the presence of other individuals when he opened fire on the residence.

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

State v. Whitney (MLW No. 82067/Case No. SD37873 – 14 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Hamner, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Scott County, Dolan, J. (Theodore Eric Liszewski, Sikeston and Katharine Patricia Curry, Columbia for appellant) (Daniel Neal McPherson, Jefferson City and Donald Ray Cobb, Benton for respondent)