Court Opinion

ID: 9778402
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 21:03:28.52541+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:08.376015
License: Public Domain

DONNELLY, Judge,
concurring.
The principal opinion applies the harmless error tests articulated in State v. Degraffenreid, 477 S.W.2d 57, 64, 65 (Mo.banc 1972) and finds the error in this case harmless. I agree.
However, from this day forward, I would abandon the Degraffenreid tests and would hold that error in the admission of evidence is “presumptively harmful * * * where the life or liberty of the citizen is at stake,” State v. Shipley, 174 Mo. 512, 516, 74 S.W. 612, 613 (1903), and will be reversible error unless we are able to declare a belief that it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Cf. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967).
I concur.