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DOCKET SUMMARIES
SUPREME COURT OF MISSOURI
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Scheduled for 9 a.m. – SC98546
State of Missouri v. Matthew James Lee McCord
Greene County
Challenge to the constitutional validity of a sex offender registration violation statute
Listen to the oral argument: SC98546 MP3 file
McCord was represented during arguments by Jedd C. Schneider of the public defender’s office in Columbia; the state was represented by Julia E. Rives of the attorney general’s office in Jefferson City.
Matthew McCord is a registered sex offender. In 2017, he was charged with two counts of failure to register and one count of residing within 1,000 feet of a school or child care facility as a sex offender in violation of section 566.147, RSMo. The property line of McCord’s residence was within approximately 839 feet of a middle school’s property line. The house in which McCord resided, however, was not within 1,000 feet of the middle school building. Following a bench trial, the circuit court found McCord guilty as charged and sentenced him to concurrent terms of four years in prison on each count. McCord appeals.
This case presents one question for this Court – whether section 566.147.1(2), as in effect at the time of the charged offense, was unconstitutionally ambiguous as to the meaning of residing within 1,000 feet of any public school. Related issues include whether within 1,000 feet of a public school is subject to multiple interpretations and, if so, whether the rule of lenity applies and requires section 566.147.1(2) to be construed in McCord’s favor such that his conviction must be reversed because he did not reside within 1,000 feet of the middle school building.
SC98259
Jesse Driskill v. State of Missouri
Laclede County
Note: By order dated November 30, 2020, oral argument in this case will be rescheduled at a later date.