State v. Morrison

• Decision Date: 24 April 2012
• Docket Number: No. WD 73684.,WD 73684.
• Citation: 364 S.W.3d 779
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. William T. MORRISON, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

364 S.W.3d 779

STATE of Missouri, Respondent,

v.William T. MORRISON, Appellant.

No. WD 73684.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

April 24, 2012.

Ellen H. Flottman, District Defender, Columbia, MO, for Appellant.

Chris Koster, Attorney General, Karen L. Kramer, Assistant Attorney General, Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.

Before Division Two: MARK D. PFEIFFER, Presiding Judge, and KAREN KING MITCHELL and GARY D. WITT, Judges.

KAREN KING MITCHELL, Judge.

Following a jury trial in Lafayette County, appellant, William Morrison, was convicted, as a persistent felony offender, of stealing by deceit. He was sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment, to run consecutively with any existing sentences. Morrison raises three points on appeal: (1) the court erred in failing to dismiss the charges pursuant to the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act; (2) the court erred in failing to dismiss the charges pursuant to section 545.890¹ (the terms of court statute); and (3) the court erred in failing to declare a mistrial following the prosecutor's reference to Morrison's prior conviction in closing argument. Finding no error of law, we affirm.

Factual Background²

In the fall of 2003, Bart Cooper was the owner of a bail bonds company, and he became familiar with Morrison because Morrison would occasionally act as a cosigner or an indemnitor on bonds for people wanting to get out of jail. They also attended a few real estate auctions together. Morrison represented to Cooper that he had knowledge of the real estate business, and Cooper occasionally worked with Morrison in attempts to purchase real estate.

Cooper and his wife owned a home in Bates City, Missouri, that they wanted to sell. In January of 2004, the Coopers moved out of the home to a new home in Lee's Summit. Sometime in February of 2004, the Coopers and Morrison entered into an agreement whereby Morrison would live in the Bates City residence and try to sell it for the Coopers. They met with an attorney to discuss the arrangement, but no paperwork was ever drawn up memorializing the agreement.

At some point, Morrison indicated that he had found a buyer from California, but he insisted that the Coopers sign the house over to Morrison so that he could complete the transaction. The Coopers refused to do so, becoming leery of their business dealings with Morrison. On April 22, 2004, the Coopers affirmatively advised Morrison to vacate the property and requested that he return the keys to the home.

In July of 2004, Mr. Cooper went by the Bates City residence and found bills in the name of both Morrison and Anita Sheninger, as well as some of Morrison's possessions, in the home. The Coopers turned off the utilities and instituted eviction proceedings.

In August of 2004, Michael Stewart and his wife owned a home in Oak Grove, Missouri, but wanted to move. Stewart's brother-in-law lived near the Coopers' home in Bates City and advised Stewart about a house for sale by owner around the corner from him. The Stewarts made an appointment and went to view the home on August 15th; it was at that time that they met Morrison, who was attempting to sell the home. The Stewarts were interested and viewed the home again a couple of days later. After the second viewing, the Stewarts made an appointment with Morrison at their residence in Oak Grove to sign a contract. The contract contained a provision indicating that the sale was contingent upon the Stewarts selling their Oak Grove home.

When Morrison arrived at the Stewarts' home, he was accompanied by Anita Sheningerand her daughter. Morrison indicated that Sheninger was his secretary and that she was also looking for a house in the price range of the Stewarts' home. Sheninger agreed to purchase the Stewarts' home for $150,000, and the Stewarts agreed to purchase the Coopers' home for $239,000; ³ they then signed contracts to that effect. When entering the contracts, the parties agreed to exchange earnest money checks in the amount of two percent of the purchase price of the respective homes, and then cash the checks, turn them into cashier's checks, and take them to the title company suggested by Morrison. Accordingly, Sheninger wrote a check in the amount of $3,000 to the Stewarts, and the Stewarts wrote a check in the amount of $4,780 to Morrison.

The next morning, Mrs. Stewart received a phone call from Sheninger after which Mrs. Stewart agreed not to cash Sheninger's check, so long as Morrison did not cash Mrs. Stewart's check. Following the conversation, Mrs. Stewart immediately contacted her bank to put a hold on Morrison's check only to discover that it had already been cashed by Morrison. Mrs. Stewart reacted by attempting to cash Sheninger's check, but was unable to do so due to insufficient funds in the account. Over the next month, Mrs. Stewart attempted to cash Sheninger's check seven times to no avail.

The same day that she first attempted to cash Sheninger's check, Mrs. Stewart contacted Morrison and demanded the return of her money until Sheninger figured out her financing for the home. Morrison advised that he was not in a financial situation at that time (the same day he cashed the check) to return the money and was “extremely rude” to Mrs. Stewart. On August 31, the Stewarts discovered that Morrison's name was not on the deed and that he did not own the home. The Stewarts repeatedly tried to contact both Morrison and Sheninger, but were not successful. They eventually reported Morrison and Sheninger to the local sheriff's department.

On January 12, 2005, the Lafayette County prosecuting attorney filed a criminal complaint against Morrison, and a warrant issued for his arrest. It appears that sometime around August 17, 2005, Morrison was picked up in Escambia County, Florida, on Lafayette County's warrant, and Escambia County then filed a fugitive complaint against Morrison in order to institute extradition proceedings for Lafayette County. Lafayette County obtained three separate Governor's Warrants for purposes of extraditing Morrison back to Missouri, but none of those efforts were successful.⁴

Sometime around the end of March or beginning of April 2007, Morris was incarcerated in Florida on local charges.⁵ On May 31, 2007, Morrison was indicted in Lafayette County for stealing more than $500 based on his conduct regarding the Stewarts' check, and a warrant on the indictment issued for his arrest.

On December 7, 2009, Morrison filed a pro se “Motion to Notify Court for Final Disposition of Detainer.” This motion was not served on the Lafayette County prosecutor. Morrison filed a second pro se motion for disposition of detainers on January 4, 2010. Morrison again failed to serve the Lafayette County prosecutor. On January 29, 2010, Morrison filed a third pro se motion for disposition of detainers; this time, his motion was served on the Lafayette County prosecutor. In response to this motion, the Lafayette County prosecutor contacted the authorities in Florida and was informed that there was no detainer in place on Morrison. Accordingly, the prosecutor filed a detainer on Morrison with the Florida Department of Corrections sometime in February 2010. On March 12, 2010, Morrison filed a fourth pro se motion for disposition of detainers.

Beginning April 5, 2010, proceedings under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act were commenced. On May 4, 2010, the warrant on Morrison's indictment was served on Morrison. On June 7, 2010, the court scheduled Morrison's trial to begin on June 23, 2010.

On June 15, 2010, Morrison filed a motion to dismiss based upon alleged violations of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (“IAD”) Act and his speedy trial rights guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Morrison's argument about the IAD violation was based upon the allegation that the 180–day period began to run when he filed his December 7, 2009, motion for disposition of detainers. The court held a hearing on Morrison's dismissal motion on June 16, 2010, and at that time, Morrison waived all IAD requests except the December 7, 2009, request and sought a continuance of the June 23, 2010, trial date for purposes of performing necessary investigation. The court granted Morrison's continuance request until November 3, 2010, but reserved ruling on the motion to dismiss. On October 22, 2010, Morrison requested a second continuance of the trial date, which was granted until February 3, 2011.

At trial, Morrison testified on his own behalf, indicating that he had an agreement with the Coopers, wherein he would stay at the residence and attempt to sell the property, and if he was successful, he would be allowed to keep any profit made over the Coopers' desired price of $205,000. Morrison testified that he was not residing at the Coopers' home, but he had left a few personal belongings there. He also testified that the Coopers never told him that he could not sell their house, and the only reason the contract with the Stewarts fell through was because the Coopers refused to cooperate based upon a disagreement as to the contract price and Morrison's take of the profit. Regarding Sheninger's bounced check for the earnest money, Morrison testified that the Stewarts knew Sheninger's purchase was premised on financing from a lender, and that they would have to take up the insufficient funds with the lender, but he was proceeding with his end by cashing their check and contacting the title company.

Mr. Cooper testified in rebuttal that he ended the agreement with Morrison to sell the home after the first contract fell through because he no longer trusted Morrison. He also testified that he never knew about the contract Morrison had negotiated with the Stewarts until sometime in September 2004. Mrs. Stewart also testified in rebuttal, and she indicated that Morrison never said anything to her about Sheninger requiring special financing.

The jury found Morrison...