State of Missouri v. Lonny Leroy Mays

Mr. Lonnie Mays (“Mays”) appeals the judgment of the Circuit Court of Benton County, Missouri (“trial eourt”)j convicting him, after a jury trial, of one count of first-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action. On appeal, Mays claims that the trial court erred in refusing to exclude the testimony of a witness due to the clergy-communicant privilege and in refusing to suppress evidence found in his vehicle that he claims .was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Mays and his wife lived in a retirement community called Sky…