Missouri Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in DeValkenaere case

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Missouri Court of Appeals held oral arguments regarding former KCPD Detective Eric DeValkenaere who was convicted of killing Cameron Lamb in 2019 and protesters were voicing their opinions outside the doors.

KCTV5 was in the courtroom Tuesday as the Missouri Court of Appeals heard them. We heard from DeValkenaere’s attorney, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

There were two main points of discussion in about an hour’s worth of oral arguments.

First, did Devalkenaere have right to be on the property at all? Jackson County Prosecutor Ben Cox pointed out that story has changed from trial to briefing to oral argument.

MORE: DeValkanaere back to court Tuesday, demonstrations in support of Cameron Lamb on courthouse steps

They also talked about whether or not Cameron Lamb had a gun and whether or not the evidence supported a reversal. The defendant’s lawyer said he had a gun but the evidence read most favorably to support the verdict, which is the standard the court of appeals must use.

“The gun was not on the ground when the initial officers went into the garage. A man who was trained with USTF, the man trained to look for guns did not see a gun on the ground and the testimony from both officers was that Cameron Lamb slumped over to the right into the passenger seat of that truck but somehow that gun mysteriously ended up outside that window on the left. Wouldn’t happen that way,” says David Smith, civil rights and police misconduct attorney.

Jackson County Lead Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker issued a statement saying, ”Today we asked for Court of Appeals to uphold the rule of law just as we have in countless other cases. We will await respectfully the court’s decision.”

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