Supreme Court of Missouri Decisions 2021

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction for second-degree felony murder and armed criminal action, holding that the circuit court's evidentiary rulings infringed on Defendant's constitutional right to present a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission finding that Defendant was not entitled to an award of workers' compensation benefits because his injury did not arise out of and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court overruling Defendant's Rule 29.15 motion for postconviction relief without holding an evidentiary hearing, holding that the circuit court did not clearly err…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed certification order of the family court division releasing and discharging J.T.J. from the jurisdiction of the family court and allowing his case to be transferred to a court of general…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court made permanent a preliminary writ of prohibition it issued to prevent the release of Darin Lutman's medical records, holding that the circuit court erred in ordering the release of the records because…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court in favor of Defendants in this personal injury case, holding that there was no error. Arica Linton went into premature labor with her son, Nicholas, and an…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the circuit court's judgment in favor of Danny Brock on his negligence claim against Mark Edwards, holding that the circuit court erred in overruling the motions for directed verdict and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court made permanent a preliminary writ of mandamus previously issued by this Court directing the circuit court to vacate its order excluding a digital recording from use at trial for various charges relating…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, holding that Defendant was not entitled to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied the writ of prohibition sought by T.J. to dismiss the state's prosecution against him without prejudice so that the circuit court's juvenile division may adjudicate the charges against him,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the circuit court dismissing without prejudice the state's prosecution against R.J.G., who was alleged to have committed several felony offenses when he was seventeen years old,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Judicial Finance Commission (JFC) dismissing the Board of Commissioners of Franklin County's petition for review disputing whether the statutory maintenance of effort (MOE)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the circuit court dismissing Petitioner's petition for declaratory judgment for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment declaring that the Honorable Patrick S. Flynn did not have authority, as the presiding judge of the 45th Judicial Circuit, to suspend Karla Allsberry, the circuit clerk of Lincoln…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the circuit court sustaining Defendant's motion to suppress a cell phone and electronic data stored on that cell phone, holding that the circuit court did not err in sustaining the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court denied Defendant's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Defendant was eligible for the death penalty because he failed to prove that he was intellectually disabled, and Defendant was not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the circuit court's judgment on the pleadings dismissing Wife's Rule 74.06(b) motion to set aside, for fraud, the judgment of dissolution of her marriage to Husband or, alternatively, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the circuit court granting summary judgment in favor of the Defendants and dismissing Plaintiffs' action seeking a declaratory judgment that Mo. Rev. Stat. 321.320 is an…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's reduction of a damages award in favor of Appellant in a medical negligence case against University Physician Associates (UPA) and various physicians (collectively, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the judgment of the circuit court rejecting Plaintiffs' claims challenging the refusal by the Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide MO HealthNet coverage,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the circuit court's judgment on the pleadings in favor of Governor Michael Parson and Michelle Hallford, the custodian of records for the governor's office (collectively, the Governor's Office)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the motion court overruling Appellant's Rule 24.035 amended motion seeking to set aside his guilty plea and vacate his judgment and sentence, holding that the motion court's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the postconviction relief court overruling Appellant's Rule 24.035 motion for postconviction relief, holding that the mistaken belief held by Defendant regarding his sentencing,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the circuit court in favor of Michael Holmes on his claim that the state legal expense fund (SLEF) was obligated to pay his 2016 judgment against two former officers of the St.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court made permanent a preliminary writ of prohibition it issued ordering the circuit court to take no other action in this wrongful death action other than to dismiss Sergeant Dirk Helms and Chief Joe…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court declining to award Arrowhead Lake Estates Homeowners Association, Inc. attorney's fees after awarding Arrowhead Lake injunctive relief, holding that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the judgment of the circuit court awarding a class of Missouri corrections officers $113 million plus post-judgment interest for breach of contract, holding that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court overruling Defendant's Rule 29.15 motion for postconviction relief, holding that the circuit court's findings of fact and conclusions of law were not clearly…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court finding the challenged provisions of House Bill No. 1413 violated multiple provisions of the Missouri Constitution and permanently enjoining its operation and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated and remanded the judgment of the circuit court dismissing Appellants' lawsuit against the Missouri Sheriffs' Retirement System (MSRS), holding that the statute authorizing a $3 surcharge…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the circuit court granting judgment on the pleadings in favor of the Affton Fire Protection District, the governor, and the attorney general (collectively, Defendants) in this…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the circuit court's judgment in favor of the Empire District Electric Company and Westar Generating, Inc. (collectively, the Utilities) in this petition to quiet title against John Scorse, both…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission awarding permanent total disability (PTD) benefits to Jonathan Parker under Mo. Rev. Stat. 287.220.2, holding that the Labor and Industrial…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court made permanent a preliminary writ of prohibition directing the circuit court to enter summary judgment in favor of Brian Henderson and Beutler, Inc., d/b/a George J. Shaw Construction Co. (Shaw), for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the grant of summary judgment in favor of the Marianist Provice of the United States and Chaminade College Preparatory, Inc. (together, Chaminade) and dismissing…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision and order of the Judicial Finance Commission (JFC) dismissing the Franklin County Commission's petition for review, holding that the JFC properly dismissed the petition as…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court retransferred this case to the court of appeals for consideration of the merits of Appellants' claims after the court of appeals dismissed the appeals for lack of jurisdiction, holding that the circuit…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court finding Defendant guilty of residing within 1,000 feet of George Washington Carver Middle School, holding that the circuit court did not err in concluding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court issued a permanent writ in prohibition directing Respondent, the Honorable Brian H. May, to vacate his orders in the case entered after Insurer filed its application for change of judge and to sustain…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Administrative Hearing Commission (AHC) finding that David and Gale Collison were not entitled to a sales tax credit following their purchase of a vehicle to replace another…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court dismissing Plaintiff's wrongful death lawsuit against Union Pacific Railroad Company under the Federal Employes' Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. 51, et seq. (FELA),…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Missouri's Legal Expense Fund had no obligation to satisfy a default judgment against Allen Merry, an employee of the St. Louis Public School District. S.M.H., a student in the Transitional…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction for the class E felony of loitering within 500 feet of a public park, in violation of Mo. Rev. Stat. 566.150, holding that there was insufficient evidence to support the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of the dismissal of a motion for a new trial filed decades after a criminal conviction became final, holding that Appellant was dismissing an order dismissing a motion the circuit…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the circuit court in favor of Plaintiffs on their claim that Missouri Delta Medical Center (MDMC) and two physicians it employed caused their father's death, holding that no…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the administrative hearing commission (AHC) finding no use tax liability for APLUX LLC and Paul and Ann Lux Associates L.P. on the out-of-state…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the amended report and order issued by the Public Service Commission (PSC) disallowing a portion of Spire Missouri, Inc.'s rate case expenses, including some of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of rulemaking issued by the Public Service Commission (PSC), holding that the order fell within the PSC's statutory authority and that the private entity fiscal note accompanying the…