Opinion ID: 2459325
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proof of Prior Felony

Text: The claim is that the records relied upon to prove the commission of a prior felony were not properly authenticated and were not actual court records; that Exhibit 100 was not an actual copy of the judge's orders or a copy of any commitment required to be made by the circuit court, but merely a typewritten memorandum or summary prepared by the clerk. The exhibit purports to be a true copy of the original judgment and sentence; the application for parole and subsequent order of discharge from parole, in this case, as the same appears of record in the office of the Circuit Clerk of Webster County. It is signed and attested by the circuit clerk, acting through a deputy clerk, with the official seal of the court impressed thereupon. It recites the caption and number of the case, the appearances, the filing of a presentence investigation report, the fact that on a day certain Francis Lee Robb entered a plea of guilty to the charge of stealing cattle as charged by way of information, the entry of a plea of guilty to the charge of stealing cattle, a sentence of confinement to the department of corrections for a period of two years, and an order to the sheriff to remove and safely convey the defendant to the reception center and to the department to receive and safely keep him until the sentence be complied with, etc., all in due form and according to law. Following that is a separate entry which purports to be a copy of a judgment entry reciting appearances, the filing of an application for parole, submission of the application, and the order sustaining the application and ordering that defendant be paroled on certain named conditions. Following that is an entry which is the record of an order dated approximately twenty-five months later, discharging defendant from the parole. The exhibit complies with the requirements of § 490.130 RSMo 1959 relating to certified copies of the record of proceedings in courts of record in this state; was entitled to be received as evidence of the acts and proceedings of the circuit court in this case, and was a sufficient basis for the court's finding under § 556.280, RSMo 1959 (the Second Offender Act). The further contention that the records show that the prior crime was that of cattle stealing, and that cattle stealing is no crime under state law, is rejected. §§ 560.156, 560.161, RSMo 1959.