Searcy v. State
| Decision Date | 29 September 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. WD,WD |
| Citation | 981 S.W.2d 596 |
| Parties | Ricki Lee SEARCY, Appellant, v. STATE of Missouri, Respondent. 55122. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Amy M. Bartholow, Columbia, for appellant.
Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon, Atty. Gen., Eva C. Sterner, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
Before ULRICH, P.J., and HANNA and EDWIN H. SMITH, JJ.
Ricki Lee Searcy appeals the motion court's denial of his Rule 24.035 motion for postconviction relief following an evidentiary hearing. Mr. Searcy pleaded guilty to violating a full order of protection, section 455.085, RSMo 1994, on August 8, 1995. As a result of the plea, he received a suspended imposition of sentence and was placed on probation for three years. Mr. Searcy's probation was revoked on April 8, 1996, and he was sentenced to four years imprisonment. On appeal, Mr. Searcy claims that (1) his guilty plea was not voluntary because it was coerced by the guardian ad litem in his divorce case and by the plea court and resulted from his lack of counsel; (2) the plea court lacked jurisdiction to accept the plea because another indictment alleging the same crime had previously been filed in Clinton County; and (3) sufficient factual basis for his plea was not established. The denial of Mr. Searcy's Rule 24.035 motion for postconviction relief is reversed. The judgment of conviction is vacated.
On August 11, 1994, Appellant Ricki Lee Searcy's wife, Hannah Searcy, obtained an ex parte order of protection against Mr. Searcy in the Circuit Court of Ray County. Four days later, Mrs. Searcy filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. A full order of protection was entered on August 22, 1994. The order provided that Mr. Searcy shall not abuse, threaten to abuse, molest, disturb the peace, or enter upon the premises of the dwelling of Mrs. Searcy. The order also awarded custody of the couple's two minor children to Mrs. Searcy. No visitation rights were awarded to Mr. Searcy.
Soon after the entry of the order, Mr. Searcy was charged with the class A misdemeanor violation of a full order of protection. He pleaded guilty to the charge on August 31, 1994. Three months later, on November 12, 1994, Mr. Searcy drove to Clinton County where Mrs. Searcy lived with her boyfriend and, while Mrs. Searcy was at work, picked up the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Searcy. The Clinton County prosecutor charged Mr. Searcy on November 23, 1994, with violating the full order of protection entered by the Circuit Court of Ray County for entering the dwelling of Mrs. Searcy and interfering with the custody of the two minor children.
On December 19, 1994, Mrs. Searcy filed a motion for contempt of court in Ray County against Mr. Searcy. The motion was heard on January 6, 1995, and the court found Mr. Searcy not to be in contempt. The court then ordered Mr. Searcy to deliver the children to Mrs. Searcy's attorney's office the next day. Mr. Searcy did not, however, comply with the court's oral order of January 6, 1995, and was found to be in civil contempt on January 24, 1995. The court ordered Mr. Searcy to pay a fine of $100 per day starting January 24, 1995, until he delivered the children to Mrs. Searcy. Mr. Searcy surrendered the children on February 17, 1995.
On April 4, 1995, the prosecutor of Ray County filed the information in the instant case alleging that Mr. Searcy violated the full order of protection by failing to return the custody of the children to Mrs. Searcy on January 7, 1995. Mr. Searcy pleaded guilty to the class D felony charge on August 14, 1995. Mr. Searcy was not represented by an attorney at the plea, but the court found that the plea was voluntarily made with a full understanding of constitutional rights and consequences of the plea. The court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Mr. Searcy on probation for three years. The Clinton County prosecutor entered a nolle prosequi on October 4, 1995, in the case filed in that county.
In April 1996, Mr. Searcy appeared before the trial court in Ray County for a probation revocation hearing. The court revoked Mr. Searcy's probation for violation of condition number 4-employment, condition number 8-reporting, and for threatening a probation officer. The court then sentenced Mr. Searcy to four years imprisonment.
Mr. Searcy filed a timely Rule 24.035 motion on May 9, 1996, to vacate, set aside, or correct the judgment or sentence. An amended motion was filed by counsel on Mr. Searcy's behalf. The motions alleged, inter alia, (1) that Mr. Searcy's guilty plea was coerced, (2) that venue was improper and that Mr. Searcy was subjected to double jeopardy in that the Clinton County prosecutor entered a nolle prosequi for the same offense in that county, and (3) that no factual basis to support the plea was found by the court. Following an evidentiary hearing at which only Mr. Searcy testified, the Rule 24.035 motion was denied. This appeal followed.
In Mr. Searcy's second point on appeal, he claims that the plea court lacked jurisdiction to accept the plea because another indictment alleging the same crime had previously been filed in Clinton County and was still pending when the Ray County indictment was filed. The jurisdictional issue is dispositive, and the other points on appeal are not addressed.
Initially, the State argues that Mr. Searcy failed to preserve this point for appellate review. A defendant, however, may for the first time on appeal raise the issue of the trial court's jurisdiction to try the case. State v. Parkhurst, 845 S.W.2d 31, 35 (Mo. banc 1992). Mr. Searcy's claim that the plea court lacked jurisdiction to accept his plea is, therefore, reviewable on this appeal.
The term "jurisdiction," as applied to criminal courts, refers to the power of a court to hear and resolve the case of a criminal offense, to render a valid judgment, and to declare punishment. 1 State v. Drinkard, 750 S.W.2d 630, 632 (Mo.App.1988); 22 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 149 (1989). In Missouri, circuit courts have original jurisdiction "over all cases and matters, civil and criminal." MO. CONST. art. V., § 14; § 478.070, RSMo 1994. Circuit courts have exclusive jurisdiction in all cases of felony, misdemeanor, and infractions. § 541.020, RSMo.1994. A person accused of committing a criminal offense shall be prosecuted in the county in which the offense is committed. § 541.033(1), RSMo 1994. If the offense is committed partly in one county and partly in another county, or if the elements of the crime occur in more than one county, then the prosecution may be had in any of the counties where any element of the offense occurred. § 541.033(2), RSMo 1994.
Where several courts have concurrent jurisdiction of the same offense, the court in which the prosecution of the criminal offense is first commenced by the filing of an indictment or information retains jurisdiction and control of the cause to the exclusion of any other court so long as the cause is pending and undisposed of. Rule 23.10; § 545.010, RSMo.1994. Likewise, if there are two or more indictments or informations pending against an accused for the same offense in the same court, the indictment or information last found...
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Searcy v. Searcy
...for entering the dwelling of Mrs. Searcy and interfering with the custody of her two minor children, as set out in Searcy v. State, 981 S.W.2d 596, 598 (Mo. App. W.D. 1998). The court also placed restrictions on Ms. Searcy's visitation with the children, as During periods of time when Petit......