State v. Gates

DONNELLY, Presiding Judge.

Appellant, Larry Raymond Gates, was convicted of robbery in the first degree in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, and his punishment was assessed at imprisonment for a term of forty years. Following rendition of judgment and imposition of sentence, an appeal was perfected to this Court.

The question directly presented on this appeal is: What are the duties and responsibilities of appellate counsel, employed and appointed, in criminal cases? The Supreme Court of the United States spoke on the question in two cases decided in 1967.

In Swenson v. Bosler, 386…