Criminal Law-Second-Degree Murder-Batson Challenge

Staff Report//May 14, 2025//

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Defendant appealed his conviction for second-degree murder and related offenses, arguing that the trial court erred in overruling his Batson challenge and contesting the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction for abandonment of a corpse. Defendant further argued that his conviction and sentence for abandonment of a corpse violated his right against self-incrimination.

Where defendant failed to present evidence showing that the state’s legitimate reasons for its peremptory challenge were pretextual and where there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that defendant knew the victim was dead when he left the scene, the court affirmed defendant’s conviction. The court also declined to consider defendant’s constitutional challenge raised for the first time on appeal as it was improper to evaluate a constitutional challenge on plain error review.

Judgment is affirmed.

State v. Bradford (MLW No. 83172/Case No. WD86601 – 19 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, Thomson, J.) Appealed from circuit court, Jackson County, Castle, J. (Joellen Grohs for appellant) (Riley A. O’Shaughnessy for respondent)