Case Name: STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Ernest W. LEE, Defendant-Appellant
Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Missouri
Decision Date: 1979-04-25
Citations: 580 S.W.2d 563
Docket Number: No. 11217
Parties: STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Ernest W. LEE, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: HOGAN, BILLINGS, MAUS and GREENE, JJ., concur.
Reporter: South Western Reporter Second Series
Volume: 580
Pages: 563–564

Head Matter:
STATE of Missouri, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Ernest W. LEE, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 11217.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, En Banc.
April 25, 1979.
John D. Ashcroft, Atty. Gen., Paul Robert Otto, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for plaintiff-respondent.
John B. Newberry, Springfield, for defendant-appellant.

Opinion:
TITUS, Judge.
According to the notice of appeal, defendant Ernest W. Lee was convicted of rape, a felony as provided by § 559.260, V.A.M.S. On October 16, 1978, he was sentenced by the Circuit Court of Greene County and admitted to bail. By a certified copy of the Certificate of Death of the Missouri Division of Health, we are advised that defendant died March 16, 1979, while his appeal was pending in this court.
Because defendant expired before the crime charged was finally determined, the prosecution against him wholly abated and there was no conviction of him in the cause. As a result thereof, this court is without a viable cause and the appeal is hereby dismissed. State v. Macklin, 560 S.W.2d 69, 70 (Mo.App.1977), and cases there cited.
The appeal is ordered dismissed.
HOGAN, BILLINGS, MAUS and GREENE, JJ., concur.
FLANIGAN, C. J., concurs in result and files opinion.