Opinion ID: 2546714
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Failure to Move to Suppress Baumruk's Statements to Officer Glenn

Text: Baumruk alleges that the motion court clearly erred by overruling his claim that his counsel was ineffective for failing to move to suppress Baumruk's statements to Officer Stewart Glenn. These statements were made to Glenn during the course of an investigation that was initiated after Baumruk filed a complaint that someone was stealing his newspapers. Glenn testified during Baumruk's second competency hearing that he did not go to the jail with the intent of obtaining any information other than that related to the newspaper complaint; however, during the course of this conversation, Baumruk volunteered that he had been shot nine times. Glenn responded by asking what happened. Baumruk told Glenn that he shot his wife in the courtroom, but did not remember doing so. Baumruk later told Glenn that he shot her when she crunched her lips. This testimony was used by Dr. Rabun, the State's expert, to support his conclusion that Baumruk had some memory of the shootings and was competent to stand trial. Baumruk claims that his counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress the statements he made to Glenn. He claims that the admission of such statements violated his Miranda rights because they were made during a custodial interrogation. Miranda, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602. He argues reasonable counsel would have moved to suppress these statements and prohibit Dr. Rabun from analyzing them in his expert testimony. He asserts not doing so was not a reasonable strategic decision by counsel even though counsel wished to rely on Baumruk's missing newspaper preoccupation as evidence of his delusional disorder. After an evidentiary hearing, the motion court overruled this claim because it found that Baumruk did not suffer any prejudice from his counsel's failure to file a motion to suppress Glenn's testimony. It based this determination on the fact that Baumruk previously had filed a motion to suppress the same testimony. [4] Counsel is not ineffective for failing to file a meritless motion. State v. Hunter, 840 S.W.2d 850, 870 (Mo. banc 1992).