St. Louis County v. Glore

715 S.W.2d 565, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4557
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 19, 1986
DocketNo. 50820
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 715 S.W.2d 565 (St. Louis County v. Glore) 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
St. Louis County v. Glore, 715 S.W.2d 565, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4557 (Mo. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

SMITH, Judge.

St. Louis County appeals from an order of the trial court sustaining motions to dismiss informations against four defendants. The parties have stipulated that the cases present the same legal issues for our determination. We reverse and remand.

Each defendant was charged with violating Sec. 706.070 of the St. Louis County Revised Ordinances in that they knowingly promoted obscene material by selling such material to police officers. Sec. 706.070 makes it unlawful “for any person for monetary consideration to knowingly promote any obscene material or to advertise, give notice or supply information where, how, of whom, or by what means possession, control or use can be obtained of any obscene material.”

Sec. 706.030(3) defines “knowingly” as:

“Having general knowledge of, or reason to know, or a ground for belief which warrants further inspection or inquiry concerning:
(a) the character and content of any material described herein which is reasonably, susceptible of examination by the defendant;....”

Sec. 706.100 contains “Presumptions” including one which reads:

“1. A person who promotes material or possesses the same with the intent to promote it in the course of his business is presumed to do so knowingly for monetary consideration.”

The trial court concluded that the presumption in Sec. 706.100.1 eliminated the element of knowledge as a required proof by the County in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Smith v. People of the State of California, 361 U.S. 147, 80 S.Ct. 215, 4 L.Ed.2d 205 (1959). On this basis it dismissed the informations as based on an unconstitutional ordinance.

Initially the respondents have challenged our jurisdiction on two bases. The first is that under St. Louis County v. Roth, 647 S.W.2d 922 (Mo.App.1983) [2], the County lacks authority to appeal. Alternatively, they contend that jurisdiction is vested in the Supreme Court because the constitutional validity of the ordinance is in issue. As to this second ground, the Supreme Court’s exclusive jurisdiction is triggered when the validity of a statute is involved. Mo. Const. Art. V, Sec. 3. We are not dealing with a statute, but with an ordinance.

In the Roth case our court decided that the appeal was governed by criminal Rule 30.02. Defendants contend that Roth precludes an appeal by a county because Rule 30.02 does not refer to a county and that in any event none of the limited circumstances for review by the state are present here. We are unable to conclude that St. Louis County v. Roth correctly decided that Rule 30.02 governs the right of appeal.

In Kansas City v. Bott, 509 S.W.2d 42 (Mo.banc 1974) the court addressed the status of an ordinance violation proceeding. It concluded that such a proceeding partook of both a civil and a criminal nature, a hybrid. There it was held that an acquittal in municipal court precluded a trial de novo in circuit court on double jeopardy grounds, without regard to whether a violation of an ordinance prosecution was a criminal or civil proceeding. That case did acknowl[567]*567edge that the appellate courts of the state have consistently treated ordinance violations as civil actions and did not alter that treatment.

In City of Riverside v. Johnson, 507 S.W.2d 48 (Mo.App.1974) [1-3], the court addressed the procedure to be used in ordinance violation cases as follows: “The procedure in the circuit court for appeals from municipal courts — except as to the right of appeal itself — is governed by the rules of criminal procedure.” (Emphasis supplied). The quoted portion clearly delineates that a difference exists between the procedure to be followed in prosecuting ordinance violations and the right of appeal in such proceedings. The court cited Sec. 98.020 RSMo.1969 in support of its conclusion. That section, which has now been repealed with no comparable reenactment, did not restrict the party who may appeal but provided such an appeal is “in the nature of a criminal appeal from a magistrate.” City of Riverside was cited in City of Kansas City v. Rowell, 548 S.W.2d 236 (Mo.App.1977) and City of Mexico v. Merline, 596 S.W.2d 475 (Mo.App.1980) to support a finding that criminal procedures are to be followed in ordinance violation proceedings. We, in turn, followed City of Mexico v. Merline in City of Richmond Heights v. Buehler, 644 S.W.2d 390 (Mo.App.1982). All three of those cases involved procedure to be followed on appeal of ordinance cases, not the right of appeal itself, a substantive issue. St. Louis County v. Roth, supra, relied upon Rowell, Merline, and Buehler in arriving at the conclusion that the substantive right of appeal was governed by Rule 30.02, and in so doing overlooked the exception concerning right of appeal articulated in the lead case, City of Riverside v. Johnson, supra.

No statute specifically limits the right of appeal in cases such as that before us. Nor does any rule. Rule 30.02 does not refer to ordinance violations. Rule 19.01 states that Rules 19 to 36 govern the procedure in all courts of this state having jurisdiction of criminal proceedings. Former Rule 37.78 dealing with traffic cases authorized appeal by either the defendant or the municipality evidencing that at least until January 1, 1986, traffic ordinance violations were treated differently than criminal prosecutions as to the right of appeal. Rule 37.78 was eliminated on January 1, 1986, without a comparable new rule. Nothing in new Rule 37 provides that the right of appeal is governed by the criminal rules. The appeal here was taken in 1985. Sec. 547.200 RSMo Cum.Supp.1984, dealing with criminal procedure, is not by its language directed toward ordinance violations, which have not traditionally been regarded as criminal prosecutions. Kansas City v. Bott, supra. We find no case, other than Roth, which holds that the right of appeal from ordinance violations is governed by the criminal rules or Sec. 547.200. Former Rule 37.78 would indicate the contrary. The general appeal statute is Sec. 512.020, RSMo.1978, which authorizes appeal by any party aggrieved by any judgment of any trial court in any civil cause from which an appeal is not prohibited by the constitution. Ordinance violations have traditionally been regarded as civil and in the absence of an express provision removing them from application of Sec. 512.020 that section governs. The Supreme Court is authorized by Art. V, Sec. 5 of the Missouri Constitution to establish rules relating to practice, procedure and pleading for all courts but may not by rule change the substantive right of appeal. We are unable to conclude that the Supreme Court has attempted to circumvent this mandate in Rule 30.02. That Rule simply does not apply to appeals from ordinance violations. To the extent that City of Kansas City v. Bott, supra,

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Bluebook (online)
715 S.W.2d 565, 1986 Mo. App. LEXIS 4557, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-louis-county-v-glore-moctapp-1986.