Missouri Supreme Court upholds Greene County man's conviction for harassing parole officer
The Missouri Supreme Court upheld Greene County's decision not to dismiss charges of tampering with a judicial officer and second-degree harassment against a Springfield man who argued that the charges were overall broad and violated his right against double jeopardy.
In 2019, Joshua Collins, 41, was on probation for domestic assault. Collins was required to wear an alcohol monitoring device and when his parole officer discovered he had been drinking, she contacted him.
Collins, who was upset about the parameters of his release, became angry with her. Things escalated when he messaged his parole officer on Facebook accusing her sons of selling drugs and her daughter of performing sexual acts. Collins also left his parole officer a voicemail stating that he wanted to talk to her son about selling meth and her other son about being a “date raper."
Previously: Missouri Supreme Court to decide constitutionality of state’s harassment statute
His parole officer reported the communications, and Collins was charged with second-degree harassment and tampering with a judicial officer. Collins' lawyer moved to dismiss the charges, but a Greene County judge sided against Collins.
Collins was convicted by a jury of both counts and sentenced to two years in jail but appealed the conviction to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Arguments were made in December of last year where Christian Lehmberg, a public defender, argued on behalf of Collins that, among other things, the charges violated Collins' protections against double jeopardy and freedom of speech.
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In their response which was filed and made public Tuesday, the seven justices of the Missouri Supreme Court dismissed all of Lehmberg's arguments and unanimously upheld Greene County's ruling.
"Contrary to Collins’ claim, it is possible to commit tampering with a judicial officer without also committing second-degree harassment," the court's opinion said. "Collins committed separate crimes when he tampered with a judicial officer and engaged in second-degree harassment."
Jordan Meier covers public safety for the Springfield News-Leader. Contact her at jmeier@news-leader.com, or on Twitter @Jordan_Meier644.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Mo. Supreme Court says Greene County man's harassment case was valid
