State v. Michaels
State v. Michaels
Opinion of the Court
Defendant has appealed from the trial court’s denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment against him based upon his contention that the indictment violates his right to be free from double jeopardy. The State has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. That motion is well taken and we grant it.
The right to appeal is given by statute. Evans v. Barham, 184 S.W.2d 424 (Mo. 1944) [1-3]. Section 547.070 RSMo 1978 provides that a defendant may appeal a “final judgment rendered upon any indictment or information.” Rule 30.01 parallels that statute. Rule 74.01 defines a judgment as “the final determination of the rights of the parties in the action.” In a criminal case the rendition of a sentence is the final judgment. State ex rel. Wagner v. Ruddy, 582 S.W.2d 692 (Mo. banc 1979) [1, 2]; State v. Hams, 486 S.W.2d 227 (Mo. 1972) [1, 2]. The denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss did not dispose of the case nor finally determine the rights of the parties. It was not a final judgment and no appeal lies therefrom.
Defendant contends that his right to be free from double jeopardy is defeated if
Appeal dismissed.
. Section 547.200 RSMo Cum.Supp.1983 allows appeals by the state from certain pre-trial evi-dentiary rulings. We are unable to conclude that that extremely limited allowance to the state only is reflective of a legislative intent similar to that found by the Court in Cohen.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.