Johnson v. State, ED 101197
| Decision Date | 12 May 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. ED 101197,ED 101197 |
| Parties | Amy Johnson, Movant/Appellant, v. State of Missouri, Respondent. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Amy Elizabeth Lowe, Assistant Public Defender, 1010 Market Street, Suite 1100, St. Louis, MO 63101, Attorney for Appellant
Chris Koster, Attorney General, Gregory L. Barnes, Assistant Attorney General, P.O. Box 899, Jefferson City, MO 65102, Attorney for Respondent
Amy Johnson (Movant) appeals the judgment denying her Rule 24.035 motion to vacate her conviction and sentence for voluntary manslaughter entered after a guilty plea. Movant contends the motion court clearly erred in denying her motion because: (1) her conviction for voluntary manslaughter violated her right to be free from double jeopardy because she was previously convicted of second-degree assault for the same act; and (2) collateral estoppel precluded the plea court's finding that Movant "knowingly" caused the victim to suffer serious physical injury because her earlier assault conviction established that she had acted "recklessly." We affirm.
In July 1994, Movant shook K.M. (Victim), then an infant, causing serious physical injury. The State charged Movant with first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. In October 1995, the State amended the information to reduce the first-degree assault charge to second-degree assault. The amended information alleged that Movant "recklessly caused serious physical injury to [Victim] by shaking her." Movant pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
Victim died in December 17, 2007 as a result of the injuries Movant inflicted. Thereafter, the State charged Movant with second-degree murder resulting from the perpetration of felony abuse of a child. Movant filed a "Motion to Dismiss Indictment for Violation of Defendant's Rights Against Double Jeopardy," arguing that prosecution for second-degree murder violated her right to be free from double jeopardy because she was previously convicted of second-degree assault, a lesser included offense of felony murder. Movant also filed a "Motion to Dismiss for a Violation of Due Process and Collateral Estoppel" in which she claimed that collateral estoppel barred the prosecution for second-degree murder because the State was proceeding under the theory that Movant acted "knowingly," even though the earlier judgment established that she acted "recklessly."
On March 2, 2011, the trial court heard arguments and denied Movant's motions to dismiss the second-degree murder charge. On March 14, 2011, the State amended the information, reducing the second-degree murder charge to voluntary manslaughter, and Movant pleaded guilty.
At the plea hearing, Movant informed the plea court that she had sufficient opportunity to discuss her case with her lawyer, she understood that by pleading guilty she was "giving up" the rights attendant to a trial, and she wished to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter. The prosecutor announced that, if the case proceeded to trial, the State would present evidence proving that "the defendant was baby-sitting [Victim] back on July 14th of 1994, the defendant shook [Victim] because [Victim] was crying, [Victim] subsequently died in December of 2007 from her injuries." Movant affirmed that the prosecutor's statements were "substantially true and correct." The prosecutor then stated that the range of punishment for voluntary manslaughter was five to fifteen years' imprisonment and recommended that Movant "be sentenced to 14 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections." Movant assured the plea court that she understood the range of punishment and the State's recommendation and she was "pleading guilty because [she was] guilty." The plea court found that Movant entered her guilty plea freely, intelligently, and voluntarily and accepted the plea. After a sentencing hearing in May 2011, the plea court sentenced Movant to fourteen years' imprisonment
Movant filed a pro se Rule 24.035 motion to vacate, set aside, or correct the judgment or sentence, which counsel later amended. In her motion, Movant claimed that the plea court erred in convicting her of voluntary manslaughter because, among other reasons: (1) the conviction resulted in a second punishment for a crime for which she was previously punished in violation of her rights to due process and to be free of double jeopardy; and (2) collateral estoppel precluded the trial court from finding her guilty of knowingly committing voluntary manslaughter because it previously found that she acted recklessly.1
The motion court entered findings of fact and conclusions of law denying Movant's Rule 24.035 motion. The motion court reasoned that the voluntary manslaughter conviction did not violate Movant's rights to due process or to be free from double jeopardy because "the prosecution for the homicide of a person previously convicted of an assault from which the death afterwards ensued does not place the accused twice in jeopardy for the same offense." Additionally, the motion court found that Movant's collateral estoppel claim "is not a cognizable claim under a rule 24.035 motion." Movant appeals.
Our review of the motion court's decision in a Rule 24.035 proceeding is limited to a determination of whether the motion court's findings and conclusions are clearly erroneous. Rule 24.035; Feldhaus v. State, 311 S.W.3d 802, 804 (Mo. banc 2010). The motion court's findings and conclusions are clearly erroneous only if, after reviewing the entire record, the court is left with a definite and firm impression that a mistake was made. Garris v. State, 389 S.W.3d 648, 650 (Mo. banc 2012). "Movant has the burden to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the motion court clearly erred in its ruling." Id. at 650–51.
In her first point, Movant claims that the motion court clearly erred in denying her Rule 24.035 motion because her convictions for second-degree assault and voluntary manslaughter based on a single act violated Section 556.041(1)2 and her right to be free from double jeopardy. More specifically, Movant contends that she "suffered multiple punishments for the same offense" because second-degree assault is a lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter.3 The State counters that the motion court did not err in denying Movant post-conviction relief because Movant waived her right to be free of double jeopardy when she voluntarily and intelligently pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter.
"The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, applicable to the states pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment, protects defendants from successive prosecutions for the same offense after an acquittal or conviction and from multiple punishments for the same offense."4 Wilder v. State, 301 S.W.3d 122, 127 (Mo.App.E.D.2010) (internal quotation omitted). "The prohibition against multiple punishment is ‘designed to ensure that the sentencing discretion of the court is confined to the limits established by the legislature.’ " Hagan v. State, 836 S.W.2d 459, 462 (Mo. banc 1992) (quoting Ohio v. Johnson, 467 U.S. 493, 499, 104 S.Ct. 2536, 81 L.Ed.2d 425 (1984) ) (overruled on different grounds by State v. Heslop, 842 S.W.2d 72 (Mo. banc 1992) ). "[D]ouble jeopardy attaches to a guilty plea upon its unconditional acceptance." Peiffer v. State, 88 S.W.3d 439, 444 (Mo. banc 2002).
Rule 24.035 permits "claims that the conviction or sentence imposed violates the constitution and laws of this state or the constitution of the United States." Rule 24.035(a). "A guilty plea waives, however, all constitutional and statutory claims except jurisdictional defects and claims that the guilty plea was not made knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently." Stanley v. State, 420 S.W.3d 532, 544 (Mo. banc 2014). Like other constitutional protections, the right to freedom from double jeopardy is subject to voluntary and intelligent waiver. See Ricketts v. A dams on, 483 U.S. 1, 8, 107 S.Ct. 2680, 97 L.Ed.2d 1 (1987) ; Rost v. State, 921 S.W.2d 629, 635 (Mo.App.S.D.1996).
Movant does not challenge the knowing, voluntary, and intelligent nature of her guilty plea. In any event, the record reflects that Movant entered her guilty plea with the advice of counsel, pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, and for the purpose of limiting her exposure to a lesser range of sentencing. More specifically, Movant sought the disposition she now challenges. The question, therefore, is whether Movant's double jeopardy claim constitutes a jurisdictional defect where she has negotiated a plea and sought the challenged disposition.
Movant claims that the motion court clearly erred in refusing to set aside her plea because "[d]ouble jeopardy is jurisdictional, and will be addressed where plain on the record even after a plea of guilty waives all other appeals." In support of this proposition, Movant cites Feldhaus v. State, which is factually and legally inapposite. 311 S.W.3d at 805. In Feldhaus, the movant pleaded guilty as a chronic offender to two counts of driving under the influence of drugs and, subsequently, filed a Rule 24.035 motion claiming that the statute defining the term "chronic offender" was unconstitutionally vague. Id. at 803–04. In holding that, by pleading guilty, the movant waived his due process claim based on the void for vagueness doctrine, the Court noted: "Except for certain double jeopardy claims not relevant to this case, constitutional claims raised after a plea of guilty are nonjurisdictional." Id. at 805. Importantly, the Feldhaus Court did not address a double jeopardy challenge.
Movant does not explain with any specificity why, in ...
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