State v. Maples
| Decision Date | 09 March 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. WD 70313.,WD 70313. |
| Citation | 306 SW 3d 153 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Gregg A. MAPLES, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Laura G. Martin, Kansas City, MO, for Appellant.
Chris Koster, Terrence M. Messonnier, and Shaun J. Mackelprang, Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.
Before James EDWARD WELSH, P.J., MARK D. PFEIFFER, and KAREN KING MITCHELL, JJ.
Gregg A. Maples appeals the circuit court's judgment convicting him of forcible rape and forcible sodomy. In his sole point on appeal, Maples asserts that the statute of limitations barred his prosecution, and, therefore, the circuit court erred in overruling his motion to dismiss both charges and in accepting the jury's verdicts and entering judgment and sentence on both counts. We disagree and affirm the circuit court's judgment.
The evidence established that on May 15, 1994, a man displayed a knife in a threatening manner and, without the consent of the victim and by use of forcible compulsion, placed his finger in the victim's vagina and had sexual intercourse with the victim. The victim reported the incident to the police and went to the hospital for examination. Hospital personnel examined the victim, obtained vaginal and cervical swabs, and collected her clothing. Preliminary forensic testing found seminal fluid on the vaginal and cervical swabs and on the victim's underwear. These samples were submitted for DNA testing. A genetic profile was developed from the vaginal swab, and a partial profile was developed from the underwear. No suspects were arrested.
Thirteen years later, in July 2007, a new type of DNA testing was performed on the samples from the vaginal swab and the underwear. The same male genetic profile was found on the vaginal swab and on the underwear. This unknown male genetic profile was submitted to a DNA database and matched the genetic profile of Gregg Maples.
On October 5, 2007, the police questioned Maples about the May 15, 1994 incident, and Maples stated that he was guilty. Maples consented to provide a buccal swab for DNA testing, and analysis of that buccal swab confirmed that Maples was the source of the male DNA found on the victim's underwear and vaginal swab.
On November 30, 2007, the State charged Maples by indictment with one count of forcible sodomy, one count of attempted forcible rape, one count of forcible rape, and one count of robbery in the first degree. The State alleged that these counts occurred on May 15, 1994. Subsequently, on the morning of trial, the State filed an information in lieu of indictment, which added the allegation that Maples was a prior offender and listed additional witnesses.
Prior to the start of jury selection, Maples filed a motion to dismiss the three sex offenses claiming that the statute of limitations had expired for all three offenses. The circuit court denied the motion to dismiss. After the close of the State's evidence, the circuit court entered judgments of acquittal on the offenses of attempted forcible rape and robbery in the first degree. The jury returned verdicts finding Maples guilty of forcible rape and forcible sodomy.
Maples timely filed a motion for new trial. In this motion, Maples asserted that the circuit court erred in failing to dismiss the counts of forcible rape and forcible sodomy because of the running of the statute of limitations. The circuit court denied the motion for new trial and sentenced Maples to concurrent imprisonment terms of twenty years for forcible rape and eighteen years for forcible sodomy. Maples appeals.
In his only point on appeal, Maples asserts that the statute of limitations barred his prosecution for forcible rape and forcible sodomy, and, therefore, the circuit court erred in overruling his motion to dismiss both charges and in accepting the jury's verdicts and entering judgment and sentence on both counts. We disagree.
The determination of whether or not a statute of limitations applies is a question of law and is reviewed de novo by this court. State v. Rains, 49 S.W.3d 828, 831 (Mo.App.2001).
The offenses at issue occurred on May 15, 1994. At that time, section 566.030, RSMo Cum.Supp.1993, provided that the penalty for forcible rape was five years to thirty years or life imprisonment, unless there was an aggravated circumstance such as the display of a dangerous instrument. If a dangerous instrument was displayed, the offense became a class A felony. § 566.030. Section 566.060, RSMo Cum.Supp.1993, contained similar provisions for forcible sodomy. The offenses at issue in this case involved displaying a dangerous weapon. Thus, at the time of the offenses, both offenses were class A felonies. Further, at the time of the offenses, and at all subsequent times, the range of punishment for a class A felony was ten to thirty years or life imprisonment. § 558.011.1(1), RSMo. Moreover, the statute of limitations in effect at the time when the offenses were committed said:
§ 556.036, RSMo 1986.
In 1994, the General Assembly amended sections 566.030 and 566.060, with the amendments becoming effective on January 1, 1995. In relevant part, the amendments deleted the express element of without consent from forcible rape and forcible sodomy and altered the ranges of punishment for the two offenses. §§ 566.030 and 566.060, RSMo 1994. In particular, the ranges of punishment for forcible rape and forcible sodomy became not less than five years or life imprisonment, thereby permitting sentences of a term of years in excess of thirty years. §§ 566.030 and 566.060, RSMo 1994. Likewise, the range of punishment for forcible rape and forcible sodomy in which a dangerous weapon was displayed in a threatening manner became not less than ten years or life imprisonment, thereby permitting sentences for a term of years in excess of thirty years.1 §§ 566.030 and 566.060, RSMo 1994. The minimum punishments for forcible rape and forcible sodomy with or without the displaying of a dangerous weapon in a threatening manner remained the same. §§ 566.030 and 566.060, RSMo 1994. The amended sections 566.030 and 566.060, however, no longer stated that, if a dangerous instrument was displayed, the offenses became class A felonies.
At the time that sections 566.030 and 566.060 were amended, section 1.160, RSMo Cum.Supp.1993, provided:
(Emphasis added.)
Subsequent to 1994, the General Assembly amended sections 1.160, 556.036, 566.030, and 566.060.2 In particular, section 1.160 was amended in 2005 to eliminate the second exception dealing with sentence reductions. Section 556.036 was amended in 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2009. Specifically, the 2002 amendment provided that there was no statute of limitations for forcible rape, attempted forcible rape, forcible sodomy, or attempted forcible sodomy. The 2006 amendment provided that a prosecution is commenced for a felony when the complaint or indictment is filed.3 The charges in this case were filed in 2007. The relevant language of section 556.036.1, providing that prosecutions for class A felonies "may be commenced at any time," has remained unaltered from the time of Maples's offenses in 1994 to the present.
Maples acknowledges that, at the time that the offenses in this case were committed, the offenses were class A felonies and that there was no statute of limitations for either offense. Maples asserts, however, that the amendments to sections 566.030 and 566.060, which took effect on January 1, 1995, altered the charged offenses to unclassified felonies, and, therefore, the statute of limitations for the charged offenses was three years. Maples argues that, pursuant to section 1.160, RSMo Cum.Supp.1993, he was entitled to any benefit in the reduction of sentences under the amendments to sections 566.030 and 566.060 for the offenses of forcible rape and forcible sodomy. According to Maples, he was entitled to the ultimate reduction of sentence—to no sentence at all— due to the expiration of the three-year statute of limitations on these unclassified felonies. Therefore, Maples contends that, because the State did not file an information or indictment within three years from the effective date (January 1, 1995) of the amendments to sections 566.030 and 566.060, the State was barred from prosecuting him on these counts. We disagree.
Pursuant to the previous version of section 1.160, a "defendant will be sentenced according to the law in effect at the time the offense was committed unless a lesser punishment is required by a change in the law creating the offense itself." State v. Johnson, 150 S.W.3d 132, 138 (Mo. App.2004) (emphasis added). Sections 566.030 and 566.060 create the offenses of forcible rape and forcible sodomy. In this case, the amendments of sections 566.030 and 566.060 changing the offenses of forcible rape and forcible sodomy when a dangerous instrument is displayed in a threatening manner from class A felonies to...
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