I thought this was interesting. People’s fate hangs on these little details:
A Missouri Supreme Court ruling has many lawyers and state public defenders scrambling to try and get their client’s felony theft charges changed to misdemeanor charges. This came as a result of the court’s review of a case where a woman was convicted of stealing a number of high price items. The items included expensive firearms and high-end jewelry, and the price of the items was a big point of contention during her trial.
The court spotted some inconsistencies in the Missouri criminal code. The wording of the code had been changed by the state legislature back in 2002. The court ruled, based on the 2002 changes, that the legal definition of stealing does not mention the value of the property stolen as an important factor for determining criminal activity. Therefore the woman could not be charged with felony theft.
This ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court has a lot of state officials questioning the actions they should be taking. There is already a statute on the books which lets the state increase the charge against a person if the item stolen is of a certain value. They can only do this if the value of property or services is relevant to the crime.
A spokesperson for the St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce put out a statement which highlights the amount of confusion concerning this ruling. In the statement she says that they are waiting to hear from the attorney general’s office to see if they are going to “appeal the Court’s decision.”
Meanwhile, public defenders are ready to jump at the chance to decrease the charges their clients are facing.
Defense attorney Kush Arora commented, “This ruling sets a precedent which can be used to defend anyone with felony theft charges still pending. There could potentially be a broad interpretation of the court’s ruling, and both sides of the court will have to adjust to the new changes.”
Members of the Missouri legislature are projecting this ruling could affect up to two-thousand cases that have been decided since the language was changed in 2002. The St. Louis Public Defenders Office is going to take a look at all of the felony stealing convictions since 2002 and see if any of the convictions could be changed to misdemeanors. Or at the very least, they would like to see if the records of these people can be corrected.
As a result of the confusion caused by the contradictory language, the Missouri legislature is going to alter the wording on January 1st when they are back in session. The committee that is helping to draft the new language promises that the confusing language which prompted this Supreme Court decision will be taken out.
