State v. Lawrence

JEFFREY W. BATES, Judge.

A trial court convicted Austin Lawrence (Defendant) of assault in the first degree. See § 565.050. 1 This Court is constrained to reverse the judgment and remand the cause for further proceedings because the lower court committed two plain errors resulting in manifest injustice to Defendant. First, Defendant appeared before the court to plead guilty to a related charge of unlawful use of a weapon. To establish a factual basis for this plea, the prosecutor provided the court with a summary of what the State expected to prove if the case were tried. Upon examination by…