Background
Mark David Adams entered Alford guilty pleas in 2008 to two counts of first-degree statutory sodomy in St. Francois County. The State dismissed two additional counts, and the circuit court sentenced Adams to concurrent 12-year prison terms. Adams did not directly appeal and was delivered to the Missouri Department of Corrections on December 17, 2008.
More than 16 years later, in September 2025, Adams filed a pro se Rule 24.035 motion for postconviction relief. He relied on August 2025 affidavits in which the alleged victim and a key witness purportedly recanted prior statements, arguing that the new evidence established his actual innocence. The motion court dismissed the motion as untimely without an evidentiary hearing.
The Court’s Holding
The Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed. Because Adams did not appeal after his guilty pleas, Rule 24.035 required him to file within 180 days of his delivery to DOC custody. His filing more than 16 years later was untimely, and the rule’s deadlines are mandatory; failing to meet them waives the right to proceed under Rule 24.035 and the claims that could have been brought under it.
The court rejected Adams’s request for an actual-innocence or newly-discovered-evidence exception. Missouri postconviction rules are not a vehicle for litigating newly discovered evidence or relitigating guilt. The court noted that such evidence may instead be relevant to a Rule 91 habeas petition or a gubernatorial pardon request. Adams also could not raise for the first time in his reply brief an argument that the motion court acted before appointed counsel could amend the motion.
Key Takeaways
- Rule 24.035’s filing deadline is mandatory and applies even when a movant asserts actual innocence based on later-obtained recantation evidence.
- Newly discovered evidence is not a basis to bypass Rule 24.035’s timeliness requirement.
- Arguments first raised in a reply brief are not preserved for appellate review.
Why It Matters
The decision reinforces Missouri’s strict enforcement of postconviction filing deadlines after guilty pleas. Recantation evidence, even if asserted to show actual innocence, does not revive an otherwise time-barred Rule 24.035 motion.