 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Dueker4/13/1999
This slip opinion is subject to revision and may not reflect the final opinion adopted by the Court.
Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District
Appeal From: Circuit Court of St. Charles County, Hon. Ellsworth Cundiff, Jr.
Opinion Vote: AFFIRMED. Knaup Crane and Mooney, JJ., concur.
Opinion:
Derric Dueker (defendant) appeals the judgment entered on the jury's verdict finding him guilty of (1) involuntary manslaughter, pursuant to section 565.024 RSMo 1994 (all further references shall be to RSMo 1994 unless otherwise noted), for which he was sentenced to a term of seven years' imprisonment and a $1000 fine; (2) operation of a motor vehicle without a valid license, pursuant to section 302.020, for which he was sentenced to a concurrent term of fifteen days' imprisonment and a $100 fine; and (3) failure to maintain financial responsibility, pursuant to section 303.025, for which he was sentenced to a concurrent term of fifteen days' imprisonment and a $100 fine.
On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred in (1) denying his motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of involuntary manslaughter and entering judgment on the jury's verdict because there existed insufficient evidence to convince a rational trier of fact that defendant had caused Darrell Keck's death by acting with criminal negligence in that the evidence did not establish the cause of the collision or did not establish that defendant operated his vehicle in a way that would cause Keck's death; and (2) overruling defendant's objection to the State's argument that the charge of involuntary manslaughter involved a question of whether he had used "the highest degree of care" in operating his vehicle because this argument constituted a misstatement of the law, confused the jury, and invited jurors to apply a lower burden of proof in that the standard pronounced in this argument involved negligence but the State had to show that defendant acted with criminal negligence to convict him of involuntary manslaughter.
Additionally, defendant argues that the trial court (3) "erred and plainly erred" in submitting Instruction No. 5 to the jury because (a) the instruction incorrectly posited that defendant "operated the motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner" in that operating a vehicle in such a way does not necessarily constitute criminal negligence; furthermore, the instruction confused the jury regarding the type of negligence which the State had to establish; and (b) there existed no evidence that he had failed to maintain a proper lookout in that the evidence established that he did not hit Keck's bicycle from the rear; furthermore, there existed no evidence that defendant's vehicle swerved into the bicycle to cause the accident; (4) erred in overruling defendant's motion for mistrial after the trial court failed to read the required "recess instruction" to the venirepersons immediately prior to the first recess in that such an instruction would have provided necessary guidance concerning venirepersons' conduct during recesses; the trial court's failure to give the instruction left venirepersons without such guidance and free to discuss the case based upon information obtained during voir dire; and (5) erred in denying defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of failure to maintain financial responsibility and entering judgment on the jury's verdict because violation of section 303.025 does not constitute a criminal offense in that the applicable statutes do not provide criminal penalties for violation of section 303.025. We affirm.
The record, viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, reveals that at appro
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Missouri DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|