Supreme Court of Missouri· 11/25/1997

State v. Simmons

Citations

955 S.W.2d 752
1997 WL 598386

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

holding that a judge can consider, during a postconviction relief proceeding, the propriety of his or her actions during the trial proceeding and any interest in upholding trial court actions is not a disqualifying bias
“The judge’s continued belief after the postconviction hearing that [the mov-ant] was guilty does not impinge upon his ability to impartially consider [the mov-ant’s] Rule 29.15 claims.”
prosecutor’s comment during guilt phase closing argument in capital murder case that testimony of defense witnesses “didn’t carry burden of any kind of persuasion here” did not impermissibly shift burden of proof to defendant
victim impact evidence is permissible in penalty-phase closing argument
victim impact evidence is permissible in penalty-phase closing argument
counsel was not ineffective for not objecting to similar arguments: “if all these decisions aren’t cool reflection on you want this person to die, then let me tell you nothing ever is”; and “If not in this brutal murder case, if not with this piece of evidence, then when?”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Limbaugh

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

50 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Other cases with this name

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.