Escape - No Appeal

On May 22, 2007, the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals, decided the case of State of Missouri v. Darren K. Vaughn.  In this case the defendant was charged with two counts of first degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action.  On the third day of his trial the defendant failed to appear.  After questioning the attorneys the court proceeded with the trial and the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts.  Four months later the defendant was recaptured and sentenced to 9 years on each count of armed criminal action and 20 years on each count of robbery.  His attorney had filed a motion for a new trial and the court denied it. 

The defendant appealed  his conviction and sentence.  His two points on appeal were that the court erred in denying his request for a mistrial when the prosecuting attorney asked him about a similar robbery in Mississippi during cross-examination and in denying his request for a mistrial and in proceeding with the case because the court did not establish that his absence was willful or voluntary.

The Court of Appeals restated the law as it pertains to the escape rule  - it operates to deny a defendant the right of appeal who escapes justice; it applies to errors that occur prior and up to the time of the escape but it does not apply to errors that occur after recapture.  The Court stated that the relevant inquiry is whether the escape adversely affected the criminal justice system and, if so, dismissal of the appeal is appropriate.

In this particular case, since the sentencing and the ruling on the motion for a new trial was delayed by the defendant's four month absence, dismissal of the appeal was determined to be appropriate because the delay adversely affected the criminal justice system.  None of the errors alleged occurred after the defendant's recapture.