(Download) "State Missouri v. Debra Lynn Dees" by Western District Court of Appeals of Missouri # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State Missouri v. Debra Lynn Dees
- Author : Western District Court of Appeals of Missouri
- Release Date : January 12, 1995
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 77 KB
Description
Debra Lynn Dees was found guilty of murder in the first degree, § 565.020.1, RSMo Cum. Supp. 1992, and armed criminal action, § 571.015, RSMo Cum. Supp. 1992, as a result of the shooting death of her husband, Ronald Dees. She was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment without probation or parole for murder in the first degree and a concurrent 15-year term for armed criminal action. She appeals her conviction on the following grounds: (1) that plain error occurred when the prosecutor commented on her failure to testify by stating that ""she is in court, because she hasn't come forward and given truthful testimony""; (2) that jury Instruction No. 9 improperly permitted the jury to find Ms. Dees guilty if she aided either Mr. Waring or Mr. Lair in committing the offense; (3) that there was insufficient evidence to support her conviction of aiding and abetting Mr. Lair; (4) that the trial court erred in admitting allegedly inflammatory and irrelevant photographs of Mr. Dees' dead body; and (5) that she was denied effective assistance of counsel because her trial counsel failed: (a) to object to the prosecutor's comment on her failure to testify; (b) to present her testimony at trial; (c) to challenge the voluntariness of her custodial statement; and (d) to present other available evidence on Ms. Dees' behalf. We find that the prosecutor did improperly comment directly on her failure to testify but that, under the Missouri Supreme Court's decision in State v. Kempker, 824 S.W.2d 909 (Mo. banc 1992), this does not entitle Ms. Dees to a new trial because she failed to object to the comment or to request an instruction to the jury, and no manifest inJustice occurred as a result of the prosecutor's single error during closing argument. We find that the other claims of error also either were not preserved or are not well taken and, accordingly, we affirm the conviction.
 "State Missouri v. Debra Lynn Dees" by Western District Court of Appeals of Missouri # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}