State Ex Rel. Baker v. Kendrick

136 S.W.3d 491, 2004 Mo. LEXIS 67, 2004 WL 1153053
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedMay 25, 2004
DocketSC 85653
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 136 S.W.3d 491 (State Ex Rel. Baker v. Kendrick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Baker v. Kendrick, 136 S.W.3d 491, 2004 Mo. LEXIS 67, 2004 WL 1153053 (Mo. 2004).

Opinions

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING IN PROHIBITION

LAURA DENVIR STITH, Judge.

This case comes to the Court following a trial in which the jury found Relator, Barry Baker, guilty of first-degree murder but was unable to agree on punishment. Respondent ordered a new penalty-phase trial only, believing such a retrial was permitted and required by this Court’s decision in State v. Whitfield, 107 S.W.3d 253 (Mo. banc 2003), decided after trial but before Respondent had ruled on Relator’s post-trial motions and before sentencing. Relator filed a petition for writ of prohibition in this Court. This Court issued its preliminary writ, which is now made absolute.

Respondent’s attempt to grant Relator’s motion for new trial came after the motion had been denied automatically under Rule 29.11(g) and was of no effect. Because this case was tried after the United States Supreme Court decided Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002), the principles set out in Ring must be applied to it. As stated in Whitfield, this means that, where, as here, the jury was unable to agree on punishment and the record fails to show that the jury found all facts necessary to impose a sentence of death, the trial court’s only authority was to enter a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of probation or parole.

[492]*492 I. PROCED URAL HISTORY AND AUTHORITY TO GRANT MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL

A. Trial Proceedings.

Barry Baker was found guilty by a jury of the first-degree murder of Trisha Blue. Because the State was seeking the death penalty, a penalty-phase trial was then held, during which the parties presented evidence concerning whether Mr. Baker should be sentenced to death or to life in prison without possibility of probation or parole. Section 565.030.4 sets out the steps the jury must follow if it is to render a verdict of death.1

On March 24, 2003, the jury in Mr. Baker’s case returned a verdict stating that it had unanimously found the presence of four statutory aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt but that the jurors were “unable to decide or agree upon the punishment.” The record, however, fails to show that the jury completed the other steps necessary to impose a death sentence, including considering whether mitigating circumstances outweighed those in aggravation, before becoming deadlocked, as required by Ring, Whitfield, and section 565.030.4(3), RSMo Supp.2003. Because the jury was unable to reach a decision on punishment, Respondent discharged the jury.

B. Rulings on PosNTñal Motions.

Under Rule 29.11(b), a defendant has 15 days in which to file a motion for new trial, but the trial court can grant up to 10 additional days in which to file the motion. The court did so here, making the motion due on or before April 18, 2003. On April 16, 2003, Mr. Baker timely filed his motion alleging various trial errors and asking Respondent alternatively to enter an acquittal, to enter a sentence of life imprisonment, to. grant him a new trial, or to grant him a new penalty-phase trial.

Under Rule 29.11(g), “[i]f the motion for new trial is not passed on within ninety days after the motion is filed, it is denied for all purposes.” In this case, the 90 days for ruling on Mr. Baker’s motion for new trial ended on July 15, 2003. On May 19, 2003, Respondent set the motion for new trial for hearing on June 12, 2003, and scheduled sentencing for June 19, 2003. But, Respondent did not rule on Relator’s motion on that date or any other. Instead, when this Court decided State v. Whitfield, 107 S.W.3d 253 (Mo. banc 2003), on June 17, 2003, Mr. Baker filed what he labeled as a “supplemental” motion in which he asserted that the court was required by [493]*493Whitfield, to enter a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of probation or parole. Two days later, on June 19, 2003, Mr. Baker filed an amended supplemental motion asking the court for the same relief. Rather than rule on the pending motion for new trial filed on April 16, 2003, Respondent then gave the parties until August 1, 2003, to file supplemental briefing addressing how Whitfield might apply to Mr. Baker. During the course of this briefing, the July 15, 2003, deadline for ruling on defendant’s April 16 motion for new trial passed, and that motion was overruled by operation of Rule 29.11(g).

Respondent heard arguments about Whitfield on August 13, 2003. On September 11, 2003, he entered a judgment that did not mention the April 16, 2003, motion for new trial. Instead, he took up and purported to grant Mr. Baker’s June 17 and June 19 motions, but did so by granting Mr. Baker a new trial, even though those motions asked only for entry of a life sentence based on Whitfield. In any event, the “supplemental” motions did not extend the July 15, 2003, deadline as they were filed after the time the motion for new trial was required to be filed. Supplemental motions filed after the time the motion for new trial is due are a nullity. State v. Mucie, 448 S.W.2d 879, 890 (Mo.1970). The trial court had no authority to act on any motion for new trial or supplement after July 15, 2003. Mr. Baker then filed his petition in this Court, asking the Court to prohibit Respondent from holding a new trial.

II. ANALYSIS

Respondent argues that his entry of an order for a new trial on September 11, 2003, was within his authority because the jury did not return a penalty-phase verdict and, thus, Rule 29.13(b) is inapplicable. Rule 29.13(b) states: “The court may, with the consent of the defendant, order a new trial of its own initiative before the entry of judgment and imposition of sentence but not later than thirty days after the verdict of the jury is returned.” Rule 29.13(b).

This Court disagrees. The jury returned a verdict form stating that it was unable to agree upon punishment. While the parties disagree as to whether this constitutes a “verdict” as that term is used in Rule 29.13(b), just quoted, under either interpretation of the term “verdict,” Rule 29.13(b) provided no basis for Respondent to order a new trial. For, if the jury’s return of the form, which was labeled “Verdict,” constituted its verdict under Rule 29.13(b), then Respondent had only 30 days thereafter in which to order a new trial sua sponte. It is undisputed that Respondent did not do so. If the form the jury returned is not considered a “verdict,” then Rule 29.13(b) simply is not applicable. And, in any event, by the time Respondent ruled, defendant had made it very clear that he did not consent to a new trial.

But, Respondent argues, this Court’s decision in Whitfield itself provided the “trigger” or authority for granting a new trial. Respondent so concluded because he believed that, while Whitfield prohibited him from entering a judgment of death, it did not mandate entry of a life sentence where the jury did not agree on punishment except in the five cases that Whitfield noted were on collateral review at the time of its decision. See Whitfield, 107 S.W.3d at 269 n. 17.

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State Ex Rel. Baker v. Kendrick
136 S.W.3d 491 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
136 S.W.3d 491, 2004 Mo. LEXIS 67, 2004 WL 1153053, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-baker-v-kendrick-mo-2004.