Jason L. Garrison (“Movant”) pleaded guilty in two separate cases as an aggravated offender to the class C felonies of driving while intoxicated and, in accordance with a plea agreement, was sentenced to serve consecutive seven-year terms in the Department of Corrections. Movant then filed Rule 24.035 motions for post-conviction relief challenging each conviction, claiming his plea counsel was ineffective.
A trial court considering a Rule 24.035 motion “shall issue findings of fact and conclusions of law on all issues presented[.]” Rule 24.035(j); see Hollingshead v. State,
In his sole point on appeal, Movant now claims for the first time that the motion court clearly erred in denying his amended motions because he “was abandoned by and received ineffective assistance by post-conviction counsel])]” (Emphasis added). Because this claim was never presented to the motion court, the motion court was not required to and did not make any findings of fact or conclusions of law related to it. In the absence of such findings, Movant’s point raises nothing within this Court’s limited standard of review upon which we could possibly reverse the motion court’s judgments. Since the findings the motion court actually made are presumed correct and, along with the motion court’s conclusions of law, are unchallenged by Movant on appeal, we affirm the motion court’s judgments denying Movant’s amended motions.
Notes
. All rule references are to Missouri Court Rules (2012).
. To preserve this latter challenge for appeal, a movant must have first complied with Rule 78.07(c) by filing a motion to amend the judgment in the motion court. Johnson v. State,
. Rule 84.13(b) provides, "No appellate court shall reverse any judgment unless it finds that error was committed by the trial court against the appellant materially affecting the merits of the action.”
