Missouri Supreme Court vacates convictions in 2013 killing

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has vacated the 2018 manslaughter and armed criminal action convictions for an southeast Missouri man and sent the case back to circuit court. Samuel Jerry Whitaker was convicted in the 2013 shooting death of his stepson-in-law, Carl Lee Streeval, in Wayne County. Whitaker was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter and 13 years for armed criminal action. Whitaker’s appeal claimed the circuit court erred in failing to instruct jurors that he could claim self-defense to prevent arson. The Supreme Court on Tuesday cited substantial evidence that Whitaker faced imminent threat that Streeval was going to burn a mobile home on Whitaker’s property.