Opinion ID: 1795596
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Charge Aggravators in Indictment

Text: Defendant argues that the trial court should have quashed the information because it failed to specifically charge him with the statutory aggravating circumstances later submitted in the penalty phase. He alleges that the principles set out in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), require that aggravating circumstances be set out in the indictment. This Court has repeatedly rejected similar arguments. Where, as here, the state gave the defendant pretrial notice, pursuant to section 565.005, of the aggravating circumstances it intended to prove at the penalty phase of trial, it was not required to list them in the indictment. State v. Gilbert, 103 S.W.3d 743, 747 (Mo. banc 2003); State v. Tisius, 92 S.W.3d 751, 766-67 (Mo. banc 2002); Cole, 71 S.W.3d at 171. The trial court did not error in overruling defendant's motion to quash.