State v. Summerland

MAUS, Chief Judge.

The defendant was charged with arson in the second degree in that he knowingly damaged an inhabitable structure owned by another by starting a fire. § 569.050 RSMo 1978. Under the circumstances hereafter related, the jury by its verdict found the defendant guilty but could not agree upon his punishment. The court sentenced the defendant to imprisonment for four years. The defendant, apparently recognizing the contrary to be true, does not question the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict. A part of that evidence was the handwritten confession of the defendant,…