State v. Lang

491 S.W.2d 12, 1973 Mo. App. LEXIS 1572
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 30, 1973
DocketNo. 34863
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 491 S.W.2d 12 (State v. Lang) 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. Lang, 491 S.W.2d 12, 1973 Mo. App. LEXIS 1572 (Mo. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

KELLY, Judge.

On February 5, 1968, appellant entered a plea of guilty to a reduced charge of mur[14]*14der in the second degree and received a sentence of IS years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Thereafter, on June 29, 1971, he filed a motion to set aside the judgment and sentence therein under Supreme Court Rule 27.26, V.A.M.R., and the trial court after an evidentiary hearing on the 11th day of January, 1972, filed its memorandum opinion and judgment denying appellant’s motion on the 17th day of January, 1972. Notice of appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court was timely filed and on the 15th day of August, 1972, the Missouri Supreme Court, on its own motion, transferred the cause to this Court pursuant to Art. V., Sec. 3, Constitution of Missouri, as amended, V.A.M.S., and Garrett v. State, decided June 14, 1972, Mo., 481 S.W.2d 225.

Both at the evidentiary hearing and on his appeal the appellant raises three contentions for setting aside the judgment and sentence in the trial court; they are,

1. that he was denied due process of law in that, at the time he entered his guilty plea his court appointed counsel was wholly inexperienced in criminal trial work, and failed to subpoena witnesses who could have testified in his behalf;
2. that he was transferred from the City Jail to the City Workhouse and while incarcerated there was required to .perform work in the food service department; this, he contends, constituted involuntary servitude and double jeopardy in violation of his constitutional rights under both the state and the federal constitutions ; and
3. that the sentence imposed on his plea of guilty was influenced by the allegations in the indictment of a prior conviction of burglary in the second degree and stealing and this therefore constituted putting his “freedom” in jeopardy again as the result of and because of the burglary conviction for which he had already completed the sentence, in violation of Article V of the Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and Section 19, Article I of the Constitution of Missouri.

One seeking to have his sentence vacated has the burden of proving his ground or grounds for relief by the preponderance of the evidence and the review of the judgment of the trial court is limited to determining whether the findings and judgment against the appellant are clearly erroneous. Rule 27.26 (j), V.A.M.R. The findings and conclusions of the trial court in denying relief to movant are presumed correct and are to be affirmed unless clearly erroneous. Rule 27.26, supra; Babcock v. State, Mo., 485 S.W.2d 85, 88(1).

With respect to appellant’s first point, a person charged with a criminal offense is entitled to have appointed to defend him counsel who renders effective legal assistance. The requirement of due process is generally satisfied when appointed counsel affords his client his complete loyalty and serves his client’s cause in good faith and to the best of his ability. State v. Dean, Mo., 400 S.W.2d 413, 415. Lack of previous experience in the trial of criminal cases, does not, standing alone, demonstrate ineffectiveness of counsel. Tucker v. State, Mo., 482 S.W.2d 454, 456 (1). The evidence in the record on review fully supports the trial court’s findings of fact in this respect. The uncontradicted evidence was that counsel appointed to represent the appellant in the original proceeding was a distinguished member of the Bar who was a graduate of a law school with a degree in law and who had been engaged in the practice of the law since 1949. He had extensive experience in the trial of civil cases and had been appointed numerous times to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases. The ten years immediately preceding his appearance in appellant’s behalf had been devoted primarily to the trial of claims before the Workmen’s Compensation Commission of this state.

It was admitted that appellant had furnished counsel the names of three per[15]*15sons who allegedly witnessed an altercation between the appellant and the victim of the homicide three days before appellant shot the victim to death. Appellant expected that they would testify that the altercation was the result of a misunderstanding over a dice game; that the victim of the murder physically abused him, cut the pockets out of his pants, and threatened to kill him the next time their paths crossed. Appellant was unable to give counsel the addresses of any of these witnesses. Counsel enlisted the aid of appellant’s brother to locate these witnesses, but to no avail. He did locate the aunt of one of the witnesses — a Raymond Rice, also known as “Hawk”- — -but she advised counsel that Rice wanted nothing to do with appellant and would be out of town until “the whole thing was over.” Rice was also endorsed as a State witness in the case.

Faced with this dilemma, counsel, when the State agreed to reduce the charge, advised appellant that he should accept the offer and plead guilty to the reduced charge. Review of the record of the plea demonstrates that the plea was voluntarily made after the assistant circuit attorney stated to the court the facts of the case as the State expected them to develop from evidence in the State’s file and then recommended to the court a sentence of IS years in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

There is no evidence that appointed counsel did not comply with the due process requirements of complete loyalty and service in his client’s cause in good faith and to the best of his ability. State v. Dean, supra.

Appellant next contends that his transfer from the City Jail to the City Workhouse where he was required to perform labor in the food service department of the workhouse while awaiting trial on the murder charge constituted involuntary servitude. The transcript of the record on the hearing of this motion reveals that while appellant was a prisoner in the City Jail awaiting trial there was a disturbance. He testified: “The pressure that was on me down at City Jail, all that fighting every day — ” On cross-examination by the assistant circuit attorney the following was developed:

Mr. Frain: “Q. All right. Okay. Now, you were taken to the Workhouse after this fracas in the Jail, is that right ?
A. Well—
Q. You said there was some kind of disturbance in the Jail?
A. Yes.
Q. You say you were working in some kind of food service?
A. In the Workhouse.
Q. What did they make you do ?
A. We had to mop, had to clean the tables and wash dishes, and we had to clean up down there, and all the things you know.”

Assuming, arguendo, that the labor appellant was required to perform at the Workhouse constituted involuntary servitude, it is clear that he was moved from the City Jail to the Workhouse for administrative reasons for what apparently constituted violation of the rules of the City Jail — to-wit, taking part in a fracas. This would then constitute an exercise of administrative decisions and would not be judicial in nature.

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Bluebook (online)
491 S.W.2d 12, 1973 Mo. App. LEXIS 1572, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lang-moctapp-1973.