State v. SCHALLON

341 S.W.3d 795, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 704, 2011 WL 2015575
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 24, 2011
DocketED 94181
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 341 S.W.3d 795 (State v. SCHALLON) 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. SCHALLON, 341 S.W.3d 795, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 704, 2011 WL 2015575 (Mo. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

GARY M. GAERTNER, JR., Presiding Judge.

Introduction

Kristen Schallon (Schallon) appeals from a sentence and judgment of conviction for multiple sexual offenses. He asserts that the trial court erred in overruling his motion for a mistrial following testimony by the victim concerning a previously undisclosed inculpatory statement by Schallon (Point I); overruling his motion for judgment of acquittal on Count 15, which was not supported by substantial evidence (Point II); allowing both Counts 21 and 26 to go to the jury although both charges stemmed from the same act (Point III); and sentencing him to seven years in prison on Count 20, a Class D felony, which is beyond the maximum sentence allowed (Point IV). The State of Missouri confesses to reversible error in Points II, III, and IV in its appellate brief. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Background

In 2007, Schallon was indicted for fifteen counts of forcible sodomy, in violation of Section 566.060, RSMo (2009); three counts of forcible rape, in violation of Section 566.030, RSMo (2009); one count of statutory rape in the first degree, in viola *797 tion of Section 566.032, RSMo (2006); fifteen counts of statutory sodomy in the second degree, in violation of Section 566.064, RSMo (2000); one count of attempted statutory sodomy in the second degree, in violation of Sections 564.011 and 566.064, RSMo (2000); and ten counts of sexual misconduct in the first degree, in violation of Section 566.090, RSMo (2006). 1 After a trial, the jury found him guilty on all Counts. The trial court sentenced him to concurrent sentences of 30 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on Counts 1-18 and 39; 7 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on Counts 19-20, 24, 27-38, and 40; and one year in the St. Louis Medium Security Institution on Counts 21-23, 25-26, and 47-51. On appeal, Schallon challenges the sufficiency of the evidence only as to Count 15.

As relevant to this appeal, the victim, J.M., (Victim) testified to the following at the 2009 trial. Schallon was Victim’s stepfather. Schallon began sexually abusing her beginning in 1990 when she was eight years old, and the abuse continued until 1999 when she left home at the age of sixteen.

Victim testified that when she was sixteen she witnessed a confrontation between her boyfriend (now her husband), to whom she had admitted Schallon’s abuse, and Schallon. During the confrontation, not only did Schallon not deny the abuse, but he indicated his guilt by stating to the boyfriend, “Please take a shot at me. I deserve it. I deserve it. Please take a shot at me.” Counsel for Schallon objected that this statement had not been disclosed to the defense prior to trial, in spite of the defense’s discovery request for “the substance of any oral statements made by [Schallon].” Defense counsel requested that Victim’s statement be stricken from the record and the jury instructed to disregard it. The court granted these requests. Defense counsel then moved for a mistrial, which the trial court denied.

The arresting officer testified that upon Schallon’s arrest, Schallon admitted that he had sexually abused Victim. He admitted an incident of abuse when Victim was eight years old, and indicated that the abuse had happened so many times that he could not give an accounting of how many times it had occurred. He stated, however, that some form of the abuse occurred everyday. He acknowledged that Victim had run away from home at the age of sixteen to get away from him and the abuse. He did not sign a written confession, but he wrote Victim a letter of apology-

Count 15 charged Schallon with sodomy between 1993 and 1994 for having “deviant sexual intercourse with [Victim] ... who was less than fourteen years old by having [Victim] touch his penis the same day as her birthday party.” Victim testified, regarding Count 15, to the following.

My 11th birthday party, I had a bunch of friends over from USSC. We had a big birthday party in the backyard. I don’t recall — I don’t recall specifically touching his penis or anything like that, but I do recall, in the garage behind the house, various times, throughout that party, he would call me in there, and he would touch my vagina, and he would touch my breasts.

The jury instructions for Count 15 instructed the jury to find Schallon guilty of sodomy if they believed from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that “defendant *798 had [Victim] touch his penis the same day as her birthday party.” The jury found him guilty on Count 15.

Count 21 charged Schallon with sexual misconduct in the first degree between 1996 and 1999 for having Victim “touch his penis with her hand, on the same day he instructed her to perform oral sex on him.” Count 26 also charged Schallon with sexual misconduct in the first degree between 1996 and 1999 for having Victim “touch his penis with her hand, before which he threatened to tell her mother about her relationship with her boyfriend.” Victim testified, regarding Counts 21 and 26, that Schallon threatened to tell her mother that she had lost her virginity to her boyfriend unless she gave him oral sex; she took his penis in her hand and attempted to give him oral sex, but was unable to complete the act, and ran from the room. The jury found Schallon guilty of both Counts 21 and 26.

Count 20 charged Schallon with attempted statutory sodomy in the second degree. The jury instructions, however, submitted Count 20 as a completed offense, stating “you will find the defendant guilty under Count 20 of statutory sodomy in the second degree.” The jury found Schallon guilty of Count 20: “an attempt to commit statutory sodomy in the second degree”; however, the trial court’s oral pronouncement and the sentence and judgment listed Count 20 as a completed offense. The court sentenced him to seven years in prison on Count 20.

This appeal follows.

Discussion

Point I

In his first point on appeal, Schal-lon asserts that the trial court abused its discretion in overruling his request for a mistrial after Victim testified to an incul-patory statement made by Schallon that was not disclosed to the defense. We disagree.

The decision whether to impose a sanction, including mistrial, for noncompliance with discovery rules rest within the “sound discretion” of the trial court. State v. Wallace, 43 S.W.3d 398, 402 (Mo.App. E.D.2001). We review a trial court’s decision for abuse of discretion, and will reverse only when there is a reasonable likelihood that the discovery violation affected the result of the trial. Id. at 402-03.

The trial court here did not abuse its discretion in denying a mistrial, because there was no reasonable likelihood that Victim’s testimony affected the result of the trial. Id. The court ordered the jury to disregard Schallon’s statement made during a confrontation with Victim’s boyfriend in which he suggested his guilt by saying, “Please take a shot at me.

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Related

State of Missouri v. Michael L. Johnson
513 S.W.3d 360 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2016)
Kristen Schallon, Movant/Appellant v. State of Missouri
435 S.W.3d 120 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
341 S.W.3d 795, 2011 Mo. App. LEXIS 704, 2011 WL 2015575, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-schallon-moctapp-2011.