Opinion ID: 2540167
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Law of the Case Is an Alternative Bar to the State's Waiver Argument

Text: Even were Halbert not a bar to holding that Mr. Taylor could waive an as yet unrecognized constitutional right to a jury determination of the facts necessary to punishment, the law of the case doctrine bars the state from making such an argument as to Mr. Taylor. This Court already has held that Mr. Taylor did not waive any such right, for he had no right to waive, based on either a statute or the constitution. Taylor, 929 S.W.2d at 217, 218-219. This Court also has held that where, as here, it is shown that the defendant did have a right to a jury trial prior to reversal and remand for re-sentencing, then section 565.035.5(3) does allow `a new jury' to be selected for purposes of imposing sentence. Id. at 219. The majority implicitly argues that law of the case does not apply here because the holding in Mr. Taylor's first appeal was made in the context of rejecting Mr. Taylor's argument that his rights were violated when he was not told that he could have jury sentencing if the state agreed to it. But, that is the point, of course. To reject Mr. Taylor's argument, this Court held that Mr. Taylor never had a right to jury sentencing under Missouri statutes in the first place and, therefore, he had no right he could waive. Now that Mr. Taylor embraces this holding, the majority would have this Court takes the opposite view, stating that he could and did waive his right to jury trial. But, the legal point is the samethere was no right, so there was no waiver. The courts cannot alternate between recognizing and not recognizing such a right depending on the issue before it and the consequences of such recognition. There cannot be no right to waive when addressing whether counsel failed to inform him of his rights but then a right to waive when the question changes to did he chose to waive unrecognized rights. The majority certainly cites no authority to support its conclusion that there is no inconsistency in its holding simply because it was made in response to a different factual question, when the basis of decisionwhether factually there was a waiveris the same. Under Missouri authority, the holding that Mr. Taylor did not waive a jury determination of punishment is law of the case. The law of the case doctrine is a neutral principle that can inure to the benefit of either the defendant or the State. Compare State v. Graham, 13 S.W.3d 290, 293 (Mo. banc 2000); Ex Parte Calvin, 689 S.W.2d 460, 462-63 (Tex.Crim.App.1985) (both applying law of the case principles to defendant's benefit); with Smulls v. State, 71 S.W.3d 138, 144 (Mo. banc 2002); State v. Deck, 303 S.W.3d 527, 545 (Mo. banc 2010) (both applying law of the case principles to state's benefit). Of course, there are exceptions to the law of the case doctrine. Appellate courts will not apply the law of the case doctrine if the first decision was based on a mistaken fact or resulted in manifest injustice or where a change in the law intervened between the appeals. Deck, 303 S.W.3d at 545, citing Walton v. City of Berkeley, 223 S.W.3d 126, 130 (Mo. banc 2007); accord, Cross v. State, 37 S.W.3d 256, 259 (Mo.App.2000) (refusing to apply law of case to preclude defendant from raising issue where law changed between first and second appeals). Similarly, a court will not apply the law of the case doctrine if it is determine[d] that a new rule with retroactive effect contradicts the law of the case. Bejarano v. State, 122 Nev. 1066, 146 P.3d 265, 271 (2006); accord, Tippins v. State, 780 So.2d 147, 148 (Fl.App.2001) (court would not apply law of the case because law had changed and sentence was in excess of that allowed by law, making exception for manifest injustice applicable). In Mr. Taylor's case, however, as noted, these exceptions work in his favor. The only change in the law has been to his benefitthe United States Supreme Court has recognized he had a Sixth Amendment right to jury fact-finding on the issue of punishment, not just on guilt, and Whitfield has recognized that this right applies retroactively in Missouri. For these reasons, the State is precluded from claiming that Taylor waived the right to jury sentencing at his guilty plea hearing. Under the doctrine of the law of the case, the issue has already been decided; there was no waiver.