Section 27.28 Suspended Imposition of Sentence Not a Conviction

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

C. (§27.28) Suspended Imposition of Sentence Not a Conviction

When a defendant has been found guilty of a felony or a misdemeanor, under § 557.011.2(3), RSMo 2000, the court may suspend the imposition of sentence, with or without placing the defendant on probation.

In the past, a suspended imposition of sentence (SIS) was a “means of relieving a person who is guilty of a crime from the stigma of a conviction when the court in its discretion feels that the ends of
justice warrant the court’s forbearance.” State ex rel. Peach v. Tillman, 615 S.W.2d 514, 517 (Mo. App. E.D. 1981). But now the Missouri legislature has made it so that an SIS “carries with it the stain of certain undesirable attributes of a conviction.” State v. Lynch, 679 S.W.2d 858, 861 (Mo. banc 1984). Under certain statutes containing the phrase “finding of guilty” or “found guilty” an SIS may be used just like any other conviction in which a sentence has been imposed. Some of the statutes are as follows:

· § 558.016, RSMo Supp. 2004, in which an SIS may be used to
determine a defendant’s status as a prior, persistent, and dangerous offender

· § 491.050, RSMo 2000, for use as a credibility issue in criminal
cases

· § 577.051, RSMo Supp. 2004, in which an SIS is treated as a
final disposition in alcohol- or drug-related driving offenses

Further, in United States v. Ortega, 150 F.3d 937 (8^th Cir. 1998), it was held that the federal court was not bound by Missouri’s laws on an SIS and that an SIS does qualify as a prior final felony drug conviction under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b). See also United States v. Slicer, 361 F.3d 1085 (8^th Cir. 2004).

The defendant who receives an SIS does still have some statutory safeguards on the availability of the defendant’s records. Under § 610.105, RSMo Supp. 2004, the defendant’s official records on the SIS must be closed when the case is finally terminated except as provided in § 610.120, RSMo Supp. 2004, and except that the court’s judgment or order or the final action taken by the prosecuting attorney may be accessed. Section 610.120 provides that the closed records are to be...