State v. Lybarger

• Decision Date: 14 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. WD 62887.,WD 62887.
• Citation: 165 S.W.3d 180
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. James E. LYBARGER, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

165 S.W.3d 180

STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. James E. LYBARGER, Appellant.

No. WD 62887.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

June 14, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Amy M. Bartholow, Columbia, MO, for Appellant.

Deborah Daniels, Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.

Before HARDWICK, P.J., ULRICH and NEWTON, JJ.

LISA WHITE HARDWICK, Judge.

James Lybarger appeals from his jury conviction on two counts of second-degree robbery, § 569.030,¹ and two counts of attempted second-degree robbery, § 564.011. He contends the trial court erred in denying his pretrial motions to dismiss the charges based on alleged violations of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD), § 217.490. He also contends the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction on one of the second-degree robbery charges. Finding no error, we affirm the convictions.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Lybarger's convictions arise from a series of robberies and attempted robberies that occurred in Clay County, Missouri, on October 13-14, 1999. One day after the crime spree, Lybarger was apprehended in Kansas pursuant to a Missouri "stop order." He was arrested and convicted on Kansas charges and then placed in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) to serve a fifteen month sentence.

The history of Lybarger's interstate transfer from Kansas to Missouri is the basis for his claims of error under the IAD. The State of Missouri issued three detainers against Lybarger while he was in the custody of the KDOC.

The first detainer was issued on October 15, 1999, in Clay County Case No. 4474, wherein Lybarger was charged with one count of second-degree robbery. The KDOC informed Lybarger about the detainer on December 19, 2000. Two months later, on February 23, 2001, Lybarger was given written notice of the detainer and his right to disposition of all pending matters in Missouri for which any detainer had been lodged against him.

The State issued a second detainer against Lybarger on December 1, 1999, in connection with a five-count indictment in Clay County Case No. 5085 (the case at issue in this appeal). Count I of the indictment presented the same robbery allegations as Case No. 4474. Kansas prison officials received the detainer on February 16, 2000, and informed Lybarger about it on February 18, 2000. Lybarger received written notice of the detainer in Case No. 5085 and his right to disposition of the charges on March 5, 2001.

The State issued a third detainer against Lybarger on Jackson County Case No. 6592, which involved first-degree robbery and armed criminal action charges unrelated to the Clay County charges. Lybarger received notice of the third detainer against him on December 27, 2000.

In February 2001, Lybarger agreed to sign the requests for disposition of the pending charges on the first and third detainers. He signed and submitted the request in Case No. 4474 on February 23, 2001. He signed and submitted the request in Case No. 6592 on February 27, 2001. Lybarger never signed the written notice and request for disposition of charges on Case No. 5085. However, his written requests in Case No. 4474 and Case No. 6592 included the following acknowledgement:

Your request for final disposition will operate as a request for final disposition of all untried indictments, information or complaints on the basis of which detainers have been lodged against you from the state to whose prosecuting official your request for final disposition is specifically directed. . . . Your request will also constitute a consent by you to the production of your body in any court where your presence may be required in order to effectuate the purposes of the Agreement on Detainers[.]

Pursuant to Lybarger's signed request for disposition of the charges in Case No. 4474, the KDOC released him to the temporary custody of Clay County on April 4, 2001. By that time, the Clay County Circuit Court had dismissed Case No. 4474 because the single count of second-degree robbery was included in the five-count indictment in Case No. 5085. The court filed Lybarger's signed request in Case No. 5085, and the State proceeded to prosecute him in that case. A superseding indictment dropped one count, leaving Lybarger charged with two counts of second-degree robbery and two counts of attempted second-degree robbery. Between June 2001 and April 2003, Lybarger filed several motions requesting dismissal of the charges based on alleged violations of the IAD. All of the motions were denied after an evidentiary hearing.

At the jury trial, Lybarger was convicted on all four counts in Case No. 5085. He was sentenced, as a prior and persistent offender, to thirty-year prison terms on the second-degree robbery charges and twenty-year terms on the attempted second-degree robbery charges. The court ordered the Count I and Count III robbery and attempted robbery charges to be served consecutively, as well as Counts II and IV, for a total of fifty years imprisonment.

II. POINTS ON APPEAL

A. INTERSTATE AGREEMENT ON DETAINERS

In his first two points on appeal, Lybarger contends the trial court erred in denying his motions to dismiss the indictment in Case No. 5085 based on alleged violations of the IAD. Lybarger argues he only consented to be transferred to Clay County on the detainer in Case No. 4474 and, thus, the State had no jurisdiction to prosecute him on the charges in Case No. 5085. He further argues his constitutional due process rights were violated when the KDOC failed to promptly inform him of his right to disposition of the detainer lodged against him in Case No. 5085.

Our review is de novo, as both points raise questions of law as to whether the trial court properly applied the law in refusing to dismiss the indictment. State v. Rousseau, 34 S.W.3d 254, 259 (Mo.App.2000). To the extent the application of law is based on the evidence presented, we view the facts in a light most favorable to the judgment, giving deference to the trial court's factual findings and credibility determinations. State v. Rousan, 961 S.W.2d 831, 845 (Mo. banc 1998)

The IAD is a congressionally-sanctioned interstate agreement that permits a prisoner in one state to seek disposition of criminal charges filed against him by second state. Lancaster v. Stubblefield, 985 S.W.2d 854, 855 (Mo.App.1998). The primary purpose of the agreement is to provide for prompt disposition of detainers, and it must be liberally construed to effectuate this purpose. State ex rel. Suitor v. Stremel, 968 S.W.2d 221, 222 (Mo.App.1998); § 217.490, Art. IX.

As adopted by Missouri and other states (including Kansas), the IAD requires prison officials to "promptly inform" the prisoner of any detainer lodged against him and of his right to request final disposition of an indictment, information, or complaint pending in the second state. § 217.490, Art. III, ¶ 3. A prisoner's request for disposition of the charges must be in writing and shall operate as a request for final disposition of all untried charges for which detainers have been issued by the second state. Id. at ¶ 1, 4. Upon receipt of the written notice, the second state can take temporary custody of the prisoner and must dispose of the pending charges within 180 days. Id. at ¶ 1.

Pursuant to the IAD, the State of Missouri issued three detainers against Lybarger while he was incarcerated with the KDOC. Lybarger does not dispute that he was informed about the existence of all three detainers before he signed the request for disposition of the charges in Clay County Case No. 4474 and Jackson County Case No. 6592. Both written requests included an express acknowledgment that they would operate as a request for final disposition on all outstanding detainers. Thus, by executing these requests, Lybarger consented to be tried on any and all Missouri charges for which detainers had been lodged against him. Id. at Paragraph 4. Once he was transferred to Clay County based on the request in Case No. 4474, the State had jurisdiction to prosecute the five-count indictment in Case No. 5085 because Lybarger was fully aware that a detainer existed on those charges when he agreed to the temporary extradition.

The jurisdiction of Missouri courts was not affected by the dismissal of Case No. 4474 after Lybarger had submitted his written request of disposition in that case. Lybarger had agreed to be prosecuted on all pending detainers and not just the second-degree robbery charge in Case No. 4474. Moreover, regardless of the validity of his request in Case No. 4474, he signed an identical request for the final disposition of all charges in Case No. 6592. The State had alternative grounds for exercising jurisdiction over Lybarger in Case No. 5085 based on his agreement to be transferred to Missouri in Case No. 6592. Point I is denied.

Lybarger argues in Point II that his constitutional due process rights were violated because KDOC officials failed to "promptly inform" him of his right to request disposition in Case No. 5085, as required by the IAD. § 217.490, Art. III, ¶ 3. The KDOC informed Lybarger about the detainer in Case No. 5085 on February 18, 2000, just two days after receiving it from the State of Missouri. Lybarger contends however, that he did not receive written notice of his right to request disposition of the five-count indictment until March 5, 2001, more than one year after Kansas officials received the detainer. We note, initially, that written notice is not required in the IAD provision directing prison officials to "promptly inform" the prisoner of pending detainers.² Id. In addition, the record reflects factual disputes as to whether Lybarger was actually informed about his right to disposition of the charges in Case No. 5085 in February 2000, when he first learned about the detainer.

This factual issue was addressed by the trial court in ruling on the pretrial motions to dismiss. The court held a hearing on the motions, at...