State v. McNeal

539 S.W.2d 722, 1976 Mo. App. LEXIS 2527
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided July 13, 1976·No. 36711·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

*724 KELLY, Judge.

Charles McNeal, appellant, was convicted of feloniously selling a Schedule I Controlled Substance — Heroin—in violation of § 195.020 RSMo. 1969 and sentenced to imprisonment in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections. § 195.200(4) RSMo. 1969. He appeals contending that his conviction should be reversed and he should be discharged or, in the alternative, his conviction should be reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

On appeal Mr. McNeal alleges that the trial court was guilty of error in: 1) permitting the substitution of an information wherein the date of the offense charged was changed from December 1, 1973, as pleaded in the indictment originally filed in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, to December 2, 1973, and thereby “prejudiced substantial rights of the defendant.” 2) in overruling his motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of all of the evidence because the evidence was insufficient to prove that he was involved in the sale of heroin on December 2, 1973, beyond a reasonable doubt; and 3) in denying his motion for mistrial when the prosecutor introduced testimony that the police officer, Richard C. Hemphill, attempted to purchase heroin from him in November of 1973, and in permitting, over his objections, evidence of unrelated crimes.

With respect to appellant’s first point, this proceeding was instituted by the filing of an indictment in the office of the Clerk of the Court for Criminal Causes of the City of St. Louis charging that the offense was committed on December 1, 1973. On November 18,1974, by leave of court, a Substitute Information in Lieu of Indictment was filed charging appellant with the Illegal Sale of a Schedule I Controlled Substance— Heroin — on December 2, 1973 and on November 20,1974, the cause came on for trial on this Substitute Information. Prior to the commencement of the trial a conference was held in the chambers of the trial court at which time the Assistant Circuit Attorney outlined what had occurred with reference to the endorsement of two additional witnesses after the filing of the original indictment and the filing of the Substitute Information in Lieu of Indictment aforesaid. He stated to the trial court that he noticed that day that the State had not endorsed those two witnesses on the “new information” and he was therefore filing “another memorandum with the Court, endorsing” those two witnesses — -Robert Roither and Thomas Marren, from the St. Louis County Police Department. The trial court inquired of appellant’s counsel if he had any objection to those actions outlined by the State’s attorney and he replied that he had no objection. The trial court thereupon announced that leave would be granted to add the endorsements, that leave had already been granted to file the substitute information, and inquired if there were any other matters that should be taken up. Appellant’s counsel replied that he would like for the record to show that prior to the filing of the substitute information his client maintained that he was normally baby-sitting for his sister’s children during the time this alleged crime occurred, but with the change of date as pled in the substitute information his client said he would not have been baby-sitting on that date because his sister would not have been working. However, although the record indicates that the question of alibi might have been discussed on November 18, 1974, when the trial court granted leave to file the substitute information, whatever that discussion constituted is not a part of this record and we would have to speculate as to its contents. Suffice it to be said, however, that other than this statement by defense counsel that the change of date ruled out the alibi appellant might have attempted to establish so long as the date of the offense was allegedly December 1, 1973, no objection to the filing of the substitute information nor to proceeding to trial on it was lodged. No request for a continuance so that he might prepare his defense, nor for any other reason, was voiced at that time.

We have searched the Motion for New Trial filed in this cause for any refer *725 ence to this point as a grounds for new trial in the trial court but this point is nowhere to be found therein. It is fundamental that where an appellant fails to make known to the trial court his objection so that he might obtain relief and where he fails to call this alleged error to the attention of the trial court in his motion for new trial, he cannot, with a few exceptions, raise it for the first time on appeal. State v. Bowens, 476 S.W.2d 495, 498[5] (Mo.1972), State v. Henderson, 510 S.W.2d 813, 821[12] (Mo.App.1974), Rule 27.20(a) V.A.M.R. Where a defendant proceeds to trial on a substitute information without making known his objections prior to trial, he cannot complain of error, if any, in that respect on appeal. State v. Cook, 333 S.W.2d 337, 340[7] (Mo.App.1960), State v. Maxie, 513 S.W.2d 338, 340[1] (Mo.1974). Furthermore, the appellant utterly fails to show how he was prejudiced by this change in dates. He took the stand in his own defense and denied that he had ever seen Officer Hemphill prior to the day of trial and further testified that on December 2,1973, he was at home watching a football game because that was his custom to watch football games on Sunday afternoons. He had no independent recollection of this particular Sunday, but it was his habit to spend his Sunday afternoons watching football games. He denied that he had ever been involved in the sale of heroin. At no time has this appellant contended that he was denied any defense to this charge by the change in date. We rule this point against appellant.

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State v. McNeal, 539 S.W.2d 722, 1976 Mo. App. LEXIS 2527 (Mo. Ct. App. 1976).

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