State ex rel. Richardson v. Hon. Daniel R. Green
Annotate this CaseLarry Welch pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault. Defendant was driving while intoxicated at the time of the offenses. Welch was sentenced to two concurrent fifteen-year terms of imprisonment on the involuntary manslaughter counts and two concurrent five-year terms of imprisonment on the assault counts, to be served consecutively to the involuntary manslaughter sentences. Welch later moved for a reduction of his sentences under Mo. Rev. Stat. 558.046, which permits a reduction of sentence only when the inmate has been convicted of an alcohol-related crime that does not involve violence or the threat of violence. The circuit court granted the motion and ordered Welch’s involuntary manslaughter sentences to be reduced to two concurrent seven-year sentences. The prosecutor filed a petition for writ of prohibition, arguing that the trial court lacked authority to reduce Welch’s involuntary manslaughter sentences. The Supreme Court granted a preliminary writ of prohibition, which it made permanent, holding that the trial court had no authority to reduce Welch’s involuntary manslaughter sentences pursuant to section 558.046 because violent conduct was a necessary component of Welch’s crime.
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