State v. Householder

637 S.W.2d 324, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3713
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 8, 1982
DocketNos. 12328, 12330 and 12331
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 637 S.W.2d 324 (State v. Householder) 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 v. Householder, 637 S.W.2d 324, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3713 (Mo. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

GREENE, Chief Judge.

Defendant, Bill Householder, was charged in three separate informations with the crime of assault in the first degree. Following a change of venue from Vernon County, Missouri, the cases were consolidated and jury-tried in Cedar County. The jury found Householder guilty on all three charges, and he was thereafter sentenced by the trial court to five years’ imprisonment on each charge, with the sentences to run consecutively. This appeal followed.

[326]*326Evidence introduced at trial, sufficient to uphold the convictions, was as follows. On January 22, 1981, Householder was living with a friend, John Mahana, in a small cabin rented by John near Nevada, Missouri. On that evening, John’s two brothers, Mark and Jim Mahana, his sister, Jackie Herbert, and a friend, Marshall Sutcliff, came to the cabin to visit with John and Householder. The group sat around the cabin talking and drinking intoxicating beverages.

An argument between Householder and Sutcliff erupted when Sutcliff accidentally knocked an empty whiskey bottle belonging to Householder off a shelf when he reached for a pack of cigarettes. John Mahana sided with Sutcliff, which angered Householder. Householder picked up a large stick and broke it over John’s head. A general melee erupted during which John and Mark were knocked to the floor by Householder. Householder then picked up a loaded .12 gauge shotgun, pointed it at Mark Maha-na’s head and pulled the trigger. The gun misfired. John Mahana then grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and attempted to pull it away from Householder. During this struggle, while the shotgun was pointed at John’s stomach, Householder again pulled the trigger and the gun again misfired. An unexpended shell had jammed in the breech during Householder’s efforts to pump a shell into the chamber and fire the gun.

Householder finally succeeded in pulling the shotgun away from John, re-pumped it, pointed it at Jim Mahana, and pulled the trigger. For the third time, the gun did not fire. Householder then ordered the Maha-na brothers to sit on the couch, told them he would kill them if they called the police, and left the premises.

Defendant’s first point relied on is that defendant was never afforded a preliminary hearing on any of the three charges before a “properly qualified associate circuit judge”, and that such a hearing is mandated before a felony information can be filed in circuit court. This claim is based on the fact that the associate circuit judge, William C. Sterett, who conducted the preliminary hearings and bound Householder over for trial, had become 70 years of age prior to the time the preliminary hearings were held, and had not been authorized to continue to serve in that position past the age of 70, pursuant to Article 5, Section 27, Subsection 24, of the Missouri Constitution.

There is nothing in the record to indicate that Householder raised this issue at the associate or circuit court level. He did not raise it at his trial, or in his motion for new trial. When an accused proceeds to trial in a criminal case upon a plea of not guilty without having made an objection that he had no preliminary hearing, or a defective one, he waives his right to object, after conviction, that such was the case. Householder’s failure to timely raise this issue in the trial court amounted to a waiver of his right to object here. State v. Wood, 596 S.W.2d 394, 400 (Mo. banc 1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 876, 101 S.Ct. 221, 66 L.Ed.2d 98 (1980). The point is denied.

Defendant’s second point is that the circuit judge, L. Thomas Elliston, who presided over the trial in the circuit court, had no jurisdiction to conduct the trial because Judge Elliston was improperly assigned by the supreme court to hear the cases. The legal history of this matter shows that on March 18, 1981, when the three felony in-formations were filed in Cedar County on change of venue, the duly elected and qualified judge for the circuit that included Vernon County, C. David Darnold, disqualified himself in all three cases. On March 26, 1981, the Missouri Supreme Court appointed Clinton K. Higgins, Jr., associate circuit judge, as special judge to hear the cases. Two weeks later, the supreme court appointed Judge L. Thomas Elliston as special judge in the three cases in question.

There is nothing in the record to indicate that Judge Higgins had been relieved of his appointment by the supreme court or, if so, why. Judge Elliston consolidated the three cases for trial, and proceeded to try the cases in question without any objection from defendant on the grounds that Elli-ston had no jurisdiction to preside. The [327]*327first attack on Elliston’s designation as trial judge came in the motion for new trial.

Defendant’s theory seems to be that the supreme court did not have the authority to appoint Judge Elliston as special judge since Judge Higgins had been previously designated special judge in the case and had not been disqualified by one of the parties or on his own motion. Householder concedes that the supreme court may make temporary transfers of judicial personnel from one court or district to another as the administration of justice requires, and that any judge shall be eligible to sit temporarily on any circuit court upon assignment by the supreme court or pursuant to supreme court rule. Article V, Section 6, Missouri Constitution. He argues, however, that nothing on the record indicates that the administration of justice required the temporary transfer of Judge Elliston from the 29th Judicial Circuit to hear the cases in question, insomuch as Judge Higgins, an associate circuit judge of the 28th Judicial Circuit, had already been assigned to hear the cases.

The supreme court’s second order transferring Judge Elliston did not specify that Judge Higgins had been disqualified, or was unable to hear the cases for any other reasons, nor do the docket sheets in any of the cases so state. Be that as it may, the supreme court order transferring Judge Elliston to serve as special judge states that it was done under the authority of Article V, Section 6 of the Missouri Constitution, which states that the supreme court “may make temporary transfer of judicial personnel from one court or district to another as the administration of justice requires.” This being so, Judge Elliston was at least a de facto judge, since as a special judge of a court of general jurisdiction he purported to act under color of the authority of a supreme court appointment, made of record, and actually exercised the judicial functions he was appointed to assume. The lack of authority of a de facto judge is a matter of error, not jurisdiction, and not being timely objected to, was waived. Brinkerhoff-Faris Trust & Savings Co. v. Gaskill, 356 Mo. 61, 65-66, 201 S.W.2d 274, 276 (1947). See also State v. Grayston, 349 Mo. 700, 704-705, 163 S.W.2d 335, 337 (banc 1942) and Acy v. Inland Security Company, 287 S.W.2d 347, 350 (Mo.App.1956). The point is denied.

Defendant’s third point is that the trial court abused its discretion in not declaring a mistrial sua sponte during voir dire because of statements concerning the term “reasonable doubt” made by the prosecuting attorney during such examination.

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Bluebook (online)
637 S.W.2d 324, 1982 Mo. App. LEXIS 3713, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-householder-moctapp-1982.