Michael A. Wolff

The case concerned a wrongful death medical malpractice lawsuit filed on the final day of the three-year statute of limitations, initially naming a hospital, a university medical center, and unidentified John and Jane Doe defendants. After the limitations period expired, the plaintiff amended the petition to substitute specific physicians and their employer for the Doe parties. The court ruled that the amendment did not relate back to the original filing date under Missouri Rule 55.33(c) or common-law misnomer principles, because the initial petition failed to adequately describe or notify the actual defendants. As a result, the claims against the newly added defendants were barred by the statute of limitations.

proceduretorts & liabilityhealthcare

In Carothers v. Carothers, the Missouri Supreme Court addressed a civil contempt judgment against Pamela Carothers for failing to pay child support arrears from a 1993 dissolution decree, resulting in her incarceration after she appeared pro se at the show-cause hearing. The court held that the contempt order became final and appealable only upon her actual incarceration in March 2010, making her April 2010 notice of appeal timely, and that the judgment was invalid because the record contained no waiver of her right to counsel. The core reasoning was that a stayed commitment warrant does not render a civil contempt order final for appeal purposes, and due process requires an affirmative record showing of any waiver of counsel in such proceedings before incarceration may occur.

family lawprocedurecivil rights

The case concerned whether a newly formed neighborhood association could enforce liens and collect unpaid property assessments on Steven Veal's buildings under covenants running with the land. The original DeBaliviere Place Association had been dissolved by the secretary of state in 1992 for failing to file annual reports; a successor association with the same name was incorporated in 2003 and received a formal assignment of all rights and duties from the former entity in 2006. The circuit court granted summary judgment to the new association, allowing foreclosure on the liens and awarding over $70,000 in assessments, interest, and fees. The court concluded that the assignment was valid because the dissolved corporation retained authority to transfer its contractual rights, the covenants remained enforceable against the properties, and the new association could collect the assessments after the assignment.

propertyprocedurebusiness & regulatory

The case involved George Biggs, who was convicted of child abuse under section 568.060 for repeatedly spanking his seven-year-old son with a belt, causing extensive bruising on the child's buttocks and thighs as punishment for the boy's inability to control his bowels due to a medical condition. Biggs appealed his conviction, arguing that the trial court improperly admitted the child's out-of-court statements to his mother, a police officer, a forensic interviewer, and his godmother under section 491.075, claiming violations of the confrontation clause and improper bolstering of testimony. The court conducted a pretrial hearing and found sufficient indicia of reliability in the statements to allow their admission as substantive evidence, and determined that the child was available for cross-examination at trial even though he could not recall the events. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, holding that the statute was constitutional as applied, the statements were properly admitted, and the evidence was sufficient to support the jury's verdict.

criminal lawfamily lawprocedure

The case involved a dispute over proper venue for a lawsuit filed by Auto Owners Insurance Company against Columbia Mutual Insurance Company and Biegel Refrigeration in Jackson County, Missouri. The defendants moved to transfer the case, arguing that Columbia Mutual resides only in Boone County where its registered office is located. The court held that Missouri law still allows venue in any county where an insurance corporation maintains an agent for its business, as the 2005 statutory changes did not alter the common law rule for insurance companies, and thus ordered the case returned to Jackson County.

procedurebusiness & regulatory

Gerald Kivland sued his surgeon, Dr. Gaines, and Columbia Orthopaedic Group for medical negligence after spinal surgery allegedly caused paralysis from the waist down and severe ongoing pain; his wife also brought a loss-of-consortium claim. After Kivland's suicide eight months later, his widow and daughter amended the suit to add a wrongful death claim asserting that the post-surgical pain caused the suicide. The trial court struck the plaintiffs' expert witness, who would have testified that the suicide resulted from the pain and was not voluntary, then granted partial summary judgment on the wrongful death claim, treating the suicide as an intervening cause as a matter of law. The Missouri Supreme Court reviewed whether expert testimony on the involuntariness of the suicide could be admitted under the standards of section 490.065 and whether the trial court abused its discretion in excluding it.

torts & liabilityprocedure