Missouri Lawyers Media Missouri legal news and public notices

Where an inmate challenged a commitment order for hospitalization and treatment of a person suffering from a mental disease or defect, the district court’s finding was supported by the record, which included the reports of two mental health care professionals. ...

Tagged with: Commitment Order Mental Disease or Defect

Defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. On appeal, defendant argued that the district court erred in imposing a four-level guidelines sentencing enhancement for possessing a firearm in connection with another felony offense. Where the ...

Tagged with: Felon in Possession of Firearm Possession in Connection with Another Felony Sentencing Enhancement

Where a defendant charged with a DWI as a prior offender challenged the testimony given by a police officer about her intoxication, arguing that a new law prohibited expert opinions about whether the defendant had a mental state or condition ...

Tagged with: DWI expert testimony Mental Condition

The district court revoked defendant’s supervised release after his sweat patches tested positive for amphetamine, methamphetamine and cocaine usage. The district court heard expert toxicology testimony concluding that the patch results reflected new drug use rather than residual drug in ...

Tagged with: Positive Drug-Test Patch Revocation of Supervised Release Sufficiency Of Evidence

Where a defendant in a sexual-abuse case challenged his sentence, the judgment is affirmed because the defendant did not show that the district court relied on any information that was not otherwise available to the court or the parties, and ...

Tagged with: sentencing Upward Variance

Defendant appealed his civil commitment to the Department of Mental Health as a sexually violent predator. Defendant argued that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney failed to file an answer and object to the state’s “end-of-confinement report” ...

Tagged with: civil commitment ineffective assistance of counsel sexually violent predator

Where a defendant challenged a 62-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, the judgment is affirmed because the district court did not ignore the guidelines range and considered all of the appropriate factors in its decision, ...

Tagged with: sentencing Upward Variance

Where a defendant argued that the district court imposed a substantively unreasonable sentence following the revocation of supervised release, the judgment is affirmed because the court carefully considered mitigating factors and did not abuse its discretion by failing to give ...

Tagged with: Revocation sentencing Supervised Release

Defendant pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine base near a school after a prior felony conviction. The district court sentenced him to 188 months’ imprisonment. Defendant appealed, challenging the substantive reasonableness of his sentence. Where defense counsel directly addressed the ...

Tagged with: Distribution of Cocaine Base Near a School Prior Felony Conviction Substantive Reasonableness of Sentence

Where a jury found a defendant guilty of assault on a law enforcement officer in the first degree, the state conceded that the trial court erred in denying the request to instruct down to the nested, lesser-included offense, and the ...

Tagged with: Lesser-Included Offense Prejudice

Where a defendant challenged the enhancement of his sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act, the district court properly found that a prior conviction in Indiana for burglary qualified as a violent felony under the act, so the judgment is ...

Tagged with: ACCA Burglary sentencing