State of Missouri v. Amadeo D. Gwin

CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 27, 2024
DocketWD86048
StatusPublished

This text of State of Missouri v. Amadeo D. Gwin (State of Missouri v. Amadeo D. Gwin) 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
State of Missouri v. Amadeo D. Gwin, (Mo. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS WESTERN DISTRICT STATE OF MISSOURI, ) ) Respondent, ) WD86048 v. ) ) OPINION FILED: ) February 27, 2024 AMADEO D. GWIN, ) ) Appellant. )

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cole County, Missouri The Honorable Jon E. Beetem, Judge

Before Division Two: Anthony Rex Gabbert, Presiding Judge, and Karen King Mitchell and Janet Sutton, Judges

Amadeo Gwin appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial in which

he was found guilty of first-degree assault, § 565.050, 1 attempted disarming of a police

officer, § 575.153, resisting arrest, § 575.150, attempted unlawful possession of a

firearm, § 571.070, and interfering with a lawful detention or stop, § 575.150. Gwin

raises two points on appeal. He claims the trial court erred (1) in denying his motion to

dismiss for violation of his right to a speedy trial and (2) in allowing the State to

1 All statutory references are to the Revised Statutes of Missouri, Cum. Supp. 2020. cross-examine him about specific details of his prior convictions. 2 Finding no error, we

affirm.

Background 3

On October 5, 2022, the State filed a first amended information charging Gwin, an

alleged prior and persistent offender, with one count each of first-degree assault,

attempted disarming of a police officer, resisting arrest, attempted unlawful possession of

a firearm, and interfering with a lawful detention or stop. 4

At trial, the following evidence was adduced. On May 26, 2021, Jefferson City

police received a call regarding a possible weapons offense near Broadway Street.

Officers S.S. and E.L. responded, parking a couple of blocks away and approaching on

foot. They saw four men: one (D.D.) in the front passenger seat of a parked vehicle and

three others standing nearby. When a patrol car passed, D.D. appeared to place

something under the passenger seat; all four men then moved quickly away from the

vehicle.

Based on the nature of the call, the location of the vehicle, and the men’s

movements, Officer S.S. believed that D.D. had placed a firearm under the seat. Officer

S.S., who was in uniform, identified himself as a police officer and ordered the men to

Gwin does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his 2

convictions. 3 “We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdicts.” State v. Shade, 657 S.W.3d 282, 287 n.2 (Mo. App. W.D. 2022). “To the extent we set forth evidence that is not favorable to the verdicts, we do so for context or because it is relevant to [Gwin’s] arguments on appeal.” Id. 4 The procedural history of this case is discussed below in our analysis of Gwin’s first point on appeal.

2 stop, but they refused and, instead, shouted obscenities at the officers. Officer E.L.

caught up with one of the men (M.S.) and spoke with him. Officer S.S. continued to

follow the other three men, asking them to stop so he could talk to them. Officer S.S.

radioed for backup to cut the men off but, when another patrol car arrived, the men

walked past it. Eventually, one of the three men (D.C.) stopped and spoke with a

sergeant who had arrived at the scene. Gwin and D.D. continued walking.

Three or four minutes later, Officer S.S. caught up to Gwin and D.D. and grabbed

them by the shoulders, telling them, “I need you to stop.” Gwin shrugged his shoulder to

remove Officer S.S.’s hand, but the officer’s other hand remained on D.D. At that point,

Officer S.S. recognized Gwin, addressed him by name, and told him to calm down so

they could talk. Gwin swore at Officer S.S. and tried to push him away. Officer S.S. still

had a hand on D.D., so Gwin grabbed Officer S.S. and tried to separate him from D.D.

Gwin then caused Officer S.S. to fall on his back, and Gwin straddled him and punched

him in the chest. During the struggle, Gwin tried to remove Officer S.S.’s gun from its

holster. Officer E.L. eventually pulled Gwin off of Officer S.S. Officer S.S. then

grabbed Gwin’s arm, but he continued to struggle. Ultimately, it took three officers to

subdue Gwin. Officer S.S. suffered minor injuries as a result of the altercation with

Gwin.

Gwin testified that he and others were outside his grandmother’s house on

Broadway when the officers approached. Officer S.S. came “directly at” Gwin who

walked away. When Officer S.S. caught up to Gwin and D.D., Officer S.S. “grabbed

[them] by [their] necks.” When Gwin told Officer S.S. that he did not want to talk,

3 Officer S.S. “tried to tackle [Gwin] from behind,” and the two men fell to the ground.

Gwin denied hurting Officer S.S. but admitted holding him down or standing over him

and asking, “Why do you keep putting your hands on me.” Gwin then heard someone

say, “[G]et on the ground before they kill you,” and he lie down with his hands behind

his back. According to Gwin, he did not resist arrest, but Officer S.S. was aggressive

toward him just as he had been during past encounters with Gwin.

The jury convicted Gwin on all counts. The court found Gwin to be “a prior and

persistent felony offender” and sentenced him to twelve years for assault and seven years

each for attempted disarming, resisting arrest, and attempted unlawful possession of a

firearm, with all sentences to run concurrently. The court also sentenced Gwin to a year

in the county jail for interfering with a lawful detention or stop. Gwin filed a motion for

new trial in which he argued, among other things, that the trial court erred in overruling

his motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds and in allowing the State to cross-examine

him about specific details of his prior convictions. The court denied his new trial motion,

and this appeal follows. Additional facts will be provided in the analysis, as necessary, to

address Gwin’s points on appeal.

Analysis

Gwin raises two points, which we address in turn. He claims the trial court erred

(1) in overruling his motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds and (2) in allowing the

State to cross-examine him about specific details of his prior convictions.

4 Speedy Trial

A. Background Facts

The following procedural history is relevant to Gwin’s speedy trial claim:

• May 27, 2021 - felony complaint filed in Case No. 21AC-CR01153 regarding the May 26, 2021 incident;

• May 28, 2021 - Gwin arrested;

• June 24, 2021 - Preliminary hearing scheduled but continued to June 25, 2021, because Public Defender’s Office had a “conflict for representation” and the case was transferred to the Special Public Defender;

• June 25, 2021 - Case continued to June 28, 2021, for a counsel status hearing because Special Public Defender has not yet entered an appearance;

• June 28, 2021 - Special Public Defender entered his appearance, and case continued to July 6, 2021, “for counsel status”; 5

• July 19, 2021 - motion for speedy trial filed;

• July 28, 2021 - indictment for the same charges filed in Case No. 21AC- CR01153-01;

• July 29, 2021 - motions for speedy trial and change of judge filed by Gwin; motion for change of judge granted on July 30, 2021, and new judge assigned on August 16, 2021;

• August 30, 2021 - arraignment hearing continued at Gwin’s request to September 14, 2021, and speedy trial request renewed;

• September 7, 2021 - motion to suppress evidence filed;

• September 14, 2021 - revised motion to suppress filed; jury trial set for October 14-15, 2021;

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State of Missouri v. Amadeo D. Gwin, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-missouri-v-amadeo-d-gwin-moctapp-2024.