Opinion ID: 1756872
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Conscious Decision Argument

Text: Appellant argues the trial court erred in allowing the State, during its closing argument, to: blatantly misle[a]d the jury to believe that if [Appellant] consciously or knowingly decided to kill a police officer, he had coolly reflected and deliberated. These arguments eliminated deliberation, cool reflection, from the elements the jury had to find to convict [Appellant] of first degree murder. Appellant also argues a conscious decision to kill someone, without more, is second degree murder. The State in its closing argument first defined deliberation as cool reflection upon the matter for any length of time no matter how brief [7] and went on to say you make a conscious decision to go after somebody and kill them, that is cool reflection. The State proceeded to use the terms deliberation, cool reflection, and conscious decision to illustrate Appellant's actions. Plain error review of a closing argument not objected to will be considered only if there is a sound, substantial manifestation, a strong, clear showing, that injustice or miscarriage of justice will result if relief is not given. Johnson I, 207 S.W.3d at 49. A conviction is reversed due to an improper closing argument when the argument had a decisive effect on the jury's determination. Id. The burden is on the criminal defendant to show a decisive effect. Id. Rarely is plain error relief granted for a closing argument claim, absent an objection, because it may be a strategic decision by counsel. Id. The trial court is vested with discretion regarding closing arguments. Edwards, 116 S.W.3d at 537. The entire record is considered when interpreting a closing argument, not an isolated segment. Id. The term conscious decision is neither an element nor description of first-degree or second-degree murder. See sections 565.020, 565.021. Conscious is defined as perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation: recognizing as existent, factual, or true. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 482 (1993). Decision is defined as a determination arrived at after consideration. Id. at 585. In the context of the State's entire closing argument, the State argued both deliberation and conscious decision. The State initially defined deliberation and in the process of arguing the deliberation element used the terms deliberation, cool reflection, and conscious decision. Although the term conscious decision is not used in the instruction, the use of this phrase in closing argument, especially after reciting the actual language of the instruction, was not plain error. [8] Furthermore, it is presumed the jury followed the instruction, see Tisius v. State, 183 S.W.3d 207, 217 (Mo. banc 2006), which properly defined deliberation.