WESLEY L. HATMON, Movant-Appellant v. STATE OF MISSOURI, Respondent-Respondent

WESLEY L. HATMON, )
)
Movant-Appellant, )
)
v. ) No. SD36289
)
STATE OF MISSOURI, ) Filed: July 29, 2020
)
Respondent-Respondent. )
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF DALLAS COUNTY
Honorable Lisa Carter Henderson, Associate Circuit Judge
REVERSED & REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS
Wesley L. Hatmon (“Movant”), following an evidentiary hearing on an amended
motion, was denied post-conviction relief under Rule 24.035. 1 Unfortunately, we must
reverse and remand, not on the merits, but for an independent evidentiary inquiry on
whether Movant was abandoned by post-conviction counsel. Both Movant and the State
agree that the amended motion was untimely. The notice of filing of guilty plea and
sentencing transcript, filed by post-conviction counsel, erroneously stated the due date for
1
All rule references are to Missouri Court Rules (2020), unless otherwise specified.
1
the amended motion. 2 The issue of the timeliness of the amended motion was neither
mentioned in the Rule 24.035 evidentiary hearing, nor addressed in the findings of facts
and conclusions of law.
We must address the timeliness of the amended motion. Moore v. State, 458
S.W.3d 822, 826-27 (Mo. banc 2015). “The filing deadlines for post[-]conviction relief
are mandatory, and cannot be waived.” Watson v. State, 536 S.W.3d 716, 717 (Mo. banc
2018) (internal quotations and citation omitted). “The untimely filing of an amended
motion by post[-]conviction counsel creates a presumption of abandonment.” Id. at 719.
When the presumption of abandonment arises, “the motion court is obligated to conduct
an independent inquiry to determine whether the movant was actually abandoned.”
Milner v. State, 551 S.W.3d 476, 479-80 (Mo. banc 2018).
We, therefore, have no choice but to reverse the judgment and remand the case to
the motion court with instructions to make an independent inquiry on the abandonment
issue.
Nancy Steffen Rahmeyer, P.J. – Opinion Author
Daniel E. Scott, J. – Concurs
William W. Francis, Jr., J. – Concurs
2
Separate counsel relied upon that date in the filing of the amended motion.
2