Shayne Garretson v. State of Missouri

CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 18, 2024
DocketWD85776
StatusPublished

This text of Shayne Garretson v. State of Missouri (Shayne Garretson v. State of Missouri) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shayne Garretson v. State of Missouri, (Mo. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS WESTERN DISTRICT

SHAYNE GARRETSON, ) ) Appellant, ) WD85776 ) v. ) OPINION FILED: ) STATE OF MISSOURI, ) June 18, 2024 ) Respondent. ) )

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Moniteau County, Missouri Honorable Matthew Phillip Hamner, Judge

Before Division Four: Gary D. Witt, Chief Judge Presiding, Janet Sutton, Judge, and Sarah Castle, Special Judge

Shayne Garretson (Garretson) appeals the judgment of the Circuit Court of Moniteau

County (motion court), which denied his amended Rule 29.15 1 motion for postconviction relief

after an evidentiary hearing. In his first point, Garretson argues that (1) the motion court

appointed counsel by its docket entries, (2) the amended motion was untimely, and (3) the

motion court should have conducted an abandonment inquiry. In his second point, Garretson

alternatively argues that because the motion court did not grant his retained counsel’s request for

1 Unless otherwise indicated, all references to Rule 29.15 are to Missouri Supreme Court Rules (2020), which was the version of the Rule in effect at the time Garretson filed his pro se Rule 29.15 motion. an extension of time before the amended motion’s due date, that the amended motion was

therefore untimely, and the motion court erred by not adjudicating the claims in Garretson’s pro

se motion. We dismiss the appeal for lack of a final judgment.

Factual and Legal Background

Following a jury trial, the court convicted Garretson of one count of first-degree statutory

rape, four counts of first-degree statutory sodomy, and five counts of incest. The trial court

sentenced Garretson to sentences of thirty years’ imprisonment on the statutory rape, thirty years

imprisonment for each count of statutory sodomy, and four years’ imprisonment on each count

of incest, with all sentences to run concurrently. Garretson’s convictions and sentences were

affirmed on direct appeal. State v. Garretson, 598 S.W.3d 643 (Mo. App. W.D. 2020).

We issued our mandate on May 20, 2020. Garretson timely filed a pro se Rule 29.15

motion for postconviction relief on July 30, 2020, alleging five claims along with an affidavit of

indigency. 2 The same day, two docket entries were made in the postconviction case. The first,

titled “Case Review Held,” stated, “Clerk to notify Area 67, Central PCR Office, Missouri State

Public Defender System of the filing of movant’s motion. Clerk to Notify of entry. So ordered.

MPH/mb.” The second docket entry, titled “Notice,” stated, “Notice of entry mailed to public

defender’s district office for appointment of counsel.” This second entry did not include the

judge or the clerk’s initials.

The next day, July 31, 2020, a docket entry was made in Garretson’s underlying criminal

case. It was titled “Judge/Clerk – Note” and stated, “Per Judge Hamner’s instructions clerk

mailing notice of entry to public defender’s office for appointment of counsel.” This entry did

2 Garretson, in his brief, admits that two claims in the pro se motion alleged trial court error and are not cognizable in a postconviction proceeding.

2 not include the judge’s or the clerk’s initials. 3 In Garretson’s postconviction case, the motion

court also made an entry a few weeks later on August 24, 2020, stating that it sent a letter to

Garretson regarding the filing fee and the entry further said, “Notice of entry to all parties and to

public defender’s district office.”

On April 29, 2021, almost nine months later, a public defender entered an appearance on

Garretson’s behalf in his postconviction case. On June 23, 2021, the public defender then filed a

motion to withdraw, stating that Garretson had confirmed to the public defender that Garretson

had hired a private attorney to represent him in the case. The motion court never ruled on this

motion to withdraw. On June 28, 2021, Garretson’s retained counsel filed an entry of

appearance and a motion for a thirty-day extension to file an amended motion. The record does

not show that the motion court ever ruled on this motion for extension of time. Retained counsel

filed an amended postconviction motion on July 28, 2021.

The amended motion raised seventeen ineffective assistance of counsel claims and one

“alternative” prosecutorial misconduct allegation. The motion court held an evidentiary hearing

on Garretson’s amended motion, at which Garretson appeared and was represented by retained

counsel.

The motion court entered a judgment with findings of fact and conclusions of law

denying Garretson’s amended motion on the merits. In its judgment, the motion court stated it

appointed the public defender to represent Garretson on July 31, 2020, that counsel failed to file

an amended motion and withdrew from representation, after which private counsel entered on

3 This docket entry was also included in Garretson’s postconviction case. It appears, however, that the entry in the postconviction case was backdated because Garretson’s postconviction case lists this entry as occurring on July 30, 2020, but the entry was not created in the underlying criminal file until July 31, 2020.

3 Garretson’s case and filed an amended motion. The motion court did not conduct an

abandonment inquiry. The motion court concluded that Garretson did not establish that he was

entitled to relief on any of his claims.

Garretson appeals.

Standard of Review

Our review of the motion court’s ruling on a Rule 29.15 motion is limited to whether the

motion court’s findings and conclusions are clearly erroneous. Rule 29.15(k); Hosier v. State,

593 S.W.3d 75, 81 (Mo. banc 2019); Creighton v. State, 520 S.W.3d 416, 418 (Mo. banc 2017).

The findings and conclusions are clearly erroneous when, after reviewing the entire record, we

are left with the definite and firm impression that a mistake has been made. Hosier, 593 S.W.3d

at 81. “A final judgment is one that resolves all claims and issues in a case, leaving nothing for

future determination.” Green v. State, 494 S.W.3d 525, 528 (Mo. banc 2016), superseded by

rule on other grounds as stated in Creighton, 520 S.W.3d at 422 n.8; Rule 74.01(b). A final

judgment is a prerequisite for appeal, and without a final judgment, “there is no appellate review

and the appeal must be dismissed.” Id. at 527-28.

Legal Analysis

In point one, Garretson argues that the motion court’s docket entries served as an

appointment of counsel, that the amended motion was untimely, and that the motion court failed

to conduct an abandonment inquiry. Alternatively, in point two, Garretson argues that if the

docket entries did not serve as an appointment of counsel, the amended motion filed by retained

counsel was still untimely, and therefore, the motion court erred by not adjudicating the claims in

Garretson’s pro se motion. Garretson asks for the case to be remanded for either an

abandonment inquiry or for the motion court to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law on

his pro se claims. The State argues that the motion court did not appoint counsel, but agrees that

4 the amended motion was untimely and because the motion court did not issue findings of fact

and conclusions of law on the pro se claims, the appeal must be dismissed as it is not a final

judgment. We consider Garretson’s points together.

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Related

Clemmons v. State
785 S.W.2d 524 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1990)
Travis M. Stanley v. State of Missouri
420 S.W.3d 532 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2014)
Charles K. Moore v. State of Missouri
458 S.W.3d 822 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2015)
Steven D. Green v. State of Missouri
494 S.W.3d 525 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2016)
Sean A. Price v. State of Missouri
500 S.W.3d 324 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2016)
Graves v. State
512 S.W.3d 87 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2017)
Moxley v. State
512 S.W.3d 771 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2017)
Hopkins v. State
519 S.W.3d 433 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2017)
Creighton v. State
520 S.W.3d 416 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2017)
Gittemeier v. State
527 S.W.3d 64 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Shayne Garretson v. State of Missouri, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shayne-garretson-v-state-of-missouri-moctapp-2024.