States v. State, SD 35959

• Decision Date: 21 November 2019
• Docket Number: No. SD 35959,SD 35959
• Parties: Harold R. STATES, Movant-Appellant, v. STATE of Missouri, Respondent-Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

588 S.W.3d 890

Harold R. STATES, Movant-Appellant,
v.
STATE of Missouri, Respondent-Respondent.

No. SD 35959

Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Division One.

Filed: November 21, 2019

Attorney for Appellant – Casey A. Taylor of Columbia, MO.

Attorneys for Respondent – Eric S. Schmitt (Attorney General) and Mary H. Moore of Jefferson City, MO.

Nancy Steffen Rahmeyer, J.

Harold R. States ("Movant") brought a Rule 29.15 motion;¹ the motion was denied without an evidentiary hearing.² Movant brings one point on appeal that the motion court clearly erred in failing to conduct an abandonment inquiry.

588 S.W.3d 892

Movant’s claim in the amended motion was that insufficient evidence existed to support Movant’s conviction and that claim had no legal possibility of success because the exact same claim was denied on direct appeal. We find no error and affirm the judgment denying post-conviction relief.

Analysis

Movant claims "abandonment" because his appointed Rule 29.15 counsel raised the exact claim of a failure to present sufficient evidence to support his convictions that was denied on Movant’s direct appeal. The motion court ruled that it had no authority to collaterally attack the judgment of the appellate court and denied the motion as a matter of law. Therefore, Movant reasons that Movant’s counsel abandoned Movant by raising a claim that deprived Movant of meaningful review of his claims.

Missouri Court Rules provide for the appointment of counsel for indigent movants in post-conviction cases. Because the right to counsel in post-conviction proceedings is not constitutionally based, any claim that post-conviction counsel was ineffective is "categorically unreviewable"; however, a movant may be entitled to relief if the movant is "abandoned" because of counsel’s failure to discharge certain obligations. Barton v. State , 486 S.W.3d 332, 336-37 (Mo. banc 2016). The claim of abandonment by post-conviction counsel is limited to two circumstances: (1) when post-conviction counsel...