An appellate court affirmed the conviction of a former Bloomfield, Mo., pastor who is serving a 50-year sentence for attempting to kill his former wife and defrauding nearly $87,000 from his now deceased mother.
The Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, issued a "per curiam order" Thursday in the case of Donald Lafferty, according to his attorney, Dan Moore, who explained none of the judges signed the order, but it was the unpublished opinion of the court.
In reaching its decision, the judges reviewed briefs and heard oral arguments from Moore and an assistant attorney general on behalf of the state.
Moore appealed Lafferty's case on two points.
First, Moore alleged the trial judge, Circuit Judge David Dolan of Scott County, had erred by refusing to grant his request to strike a juror who had made such statements as she had formed an opinion that Lafferty was guilty and she expected the defense to prove Lafferty's innocence.
The state argued the juror was "rehabilitated" during the examination of potential jurors, and her responses had to be "taken as a whole."
The woman ended up on the jury and was among the 12 Stoddard County residents to convict Lafferty of the felonies of attempted murder, arson, armed criminal action (ACA) and financial exploitation of an elderly person in January 2016.
Lafferty, now 72, was convicted of hiring Brandi and Christopher Hicks of Dexter, Mo., to burn his home near Bloomfield and kill his wife in January 2013. The Hickses were to receive $15,000 and another $5,000 if his wife died in the fire.
The exploitation charge involving Lafferty's mother, Goldie Lafferty, was a separate incident. He was accused of defrauding his mother by taking all the money from a certificate of deposit and using it for personal bills.
Moore's second point of appeal alleged Dolan erred in overruling his motion for "judgment of acquittal" on the financial exploitation charge because the state "failed to prove the essential elements" of the crime for which Lafferty was charged.
Moore said his client was charged with using a power of attorney, which was more than 10 years old, to "hide a transaction" from his mother, but there was "no evidence presented" that his mother was prompted to enter into any agreement or that her son kept her from getting information about the funds.
The state argued in its brief that the evidence was sufficient to support Lafferty's conviction on the exploitation charge.
Moore had asked the appellate court to order a new trial for his client and to set aside Lafferty's conviction and sentence on the financial exploitation charge.
"The Southern District spent most of the decision on the elder abuse issue," Moore said,
It was the judges' opinion "there was enough evidence there on the elder abuse to support the manner in which it was charged," Moore said.
It was Moore's opinion the evidence did not support the charge, but "they came to a different conclusion than I did," he said. "Since they are appellate judges, and I'm not, my opinion doesn't matter."
According to Moore, elder abuse can be charged in a number of ways, (including) abuse of power of attorney.
"(The state) didn't charge that. The argument was not being charged one way and convicted of another."
Moore said if he had won that point of appeal, it would not have done him any good because he needed his client to get a new trial.
Regarding the juror issue, Moore said, the appellate judges found that Dolan "did not abuse his discretion. What the standard of review is on that, the trial judge sees the demeanor of the juror. (The appellate judges) can't overrule his ruling because it's a matter of discretion."
The appellate court, Moore said, didn't believe the evidence "rose to the level to show it was an abuse of discretion" by Dolan.
Moore said he has 15 days to file any post-appellate motions asking for the case to be reheard by the appellate court, transferred to the Missouri Supreme Court or for the court to publish its opinion.
"There is a possibility we could ask for a rehearing, which probably won't happen," Moore said. "They have made their decision and asking them to reconsider it probably is not going to change their minds."
Moore explained he could ask the case be transferred to the Missouri Supreme Court.
"That would usually be based on one of two theories," Moore said. "One would be (the appellate court) decision is in conflict with other existing decisions or two, that if this ruling would have such an impact on future trials that the Supreme Court needs to make the decision rather than the lower appellate court."
Should Moore, on behalf of Lafferty, ask that the case be transferred to the Supreme Court, the court will have to decide whether to accept it.
"Then, the Supreme Court can make their own decision," Moore said, "or they can say we looked at what the Southern District did, and we're not going to do anything different."
Moore said if the Supreme Court would accept the case, then "we would probably go up to Jeff City and orally argue it up there. Again, it will be up to the Supreme Court."
Moore said he has not decided how to proceed at this time, but "I could file a motion to rehear or in the alternative a motion to transfer."
Under the rules, Moore believes he can combine those motions.
Moore's client is an inmate at the South Central Correctional Center in Licking, Mo., where he is serving 15 years in prison on the attempted murder and arson charges, with those sentences to be served consecutively to each other, and to a 20-year sentence on the exploitation charge.
A 10-year sentence on the ACA was ordered to be served concurrently with Lafferty's other sentences.