State of Missouri v. William Darrell Joyner, 458 S.W.3d 875

Joyner appealed a conviction for aggravated stalking in a minor-related case.
Victim was a twelve-year-old female; Joyner was a 45-year-old male frequenting the same church and invited to live with the family.
The State presented acts (letters, following, observing, and hospital-area presence) as a course of conduct to prove stalking.
Prior to trial, Joyner’s status as a registered sex offender and related convictions were excluded by in limine orders.
The State elicited testimony that the victim feared Joyner because of his sex-offender status, and closing argument emphasized that status.
The trial court admitted the testimony over objection, and on appeal the court reverses and remands for a new trial on grounds of improper admission and prejudice.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether admission of the victim’s fear based on Joyner’s sex-offender status was improper	Joyner	Joyner	Yes; admission was abuse of discretion and outcome-determinative.
Whether the State could rely on victim’s knowledge of Joyner’s status to prove intent to harass	Joyner	Joyner	No; state-of-mind evidence not essential element; error reversed.

State v. McFadden, 369 S.W.3d 727 (Mo. banc 2012) (admissibility and error standard for evidentiary rulings in criminal trials)
State v. Oerly, 446 S.W.3d 304 (Mo. App. W.D. 2014) (abuse of discretion standard for evidentiary decisions)
Barriner, 34 S.W.3d 139 (Mo. banc 2000) (outcome-determinative prejudice factors for improperly admitted evidence)