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Criminal Law-Unlawful Use of a Weapon-Jury Instructions
Staff Report//January 2, 2026//
Defendant appealed her conviction for unlawful use of a weapon, challenging the trial court’s jury instructions and arguing that the trial court plainly erred in accepting the jury’s verdict and imposing a sentence for a class B felony rather than the class E felony described in the instructions.
Where defendant offered no objection to the given jury instructions and where any error in the instruction was not obvious and clear, the trial court could accept the jury’s verdict where it could not have found that defendant shot “into” a vehicle without also shooting “at” the vehicle.
Judgment is affirmed.
State v. Jones (MLW No. 84157/Case No. SC101104 – 14 pages) (Supreme Court of Missouri, Powell, J.) Appealed from circuit court, City of St. Louis, Fowler, J. (Kevin L. Schriener, Clayton for appellant) (Wensdai Brooks, Jefferson City for respondent)
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