After a year of negotiations inside and outside the courtroom, former Osage County Sheriff Michael Dixon walked away Tuesday with merely a scratch on his criminal record.
In March 2016, Boone County prosecutors said Dixon was in the Hitchin' Post bar in Hartsburg when he "knowingly had on his person a firearm and handled such firearm in a negligent manner in that defendant pointed the firearm at another person during a time when the defendant was intoxicated."
As a result, they charged Dixon with a Class D felony - a crime that carries a possible prison sentence of up to four years.
But through negotiations, the felony was reduced to a misdemeanor last November, which is now cited as a violation of general peace disturbance.
Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Deborah Daniels on Tuesday accepted a guilty plea from the defendant's attorney, Grant Boyd, granting Dixon the reduced charge - with a $500 fine plus $118.50 in court costs to be paid at the conclusion of the hearing.
The negotiated agreement came as a surprise to Daniels, who said the court had prepared for a jury trial next week.
"I suppose that I can have the record reflect that the agreement between the state's attorney and the defendant's attorney is that there will be no further prosecution resulting from the events that occurred on March 5, 2016, in Boone County," Daniels said, "but I do not believe that controls the federal government, nor would it control an event that may or may not have happened in any other county outside of Boone."
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brouck Jacobs agreed to Boyd's request to dismiss further prosecution only for the events that occurred in Boone County on March 5, 2016.
Jacobs cited three main reasons for reducing the charges - and all of them dealt with the state's inability to uphold a high standard for the burden of the proof.
"For one, input from the victim, this is kind of what he wanted to see happen in the case. The other thing is, in order to prove negligent use of a firearm - it's a felony if the gun is loaded - at this point we had no way of proving whether the gun was loaded beyond a reasonable doubt because the crime wasn't discovered until weeks after it happened," Jacobs said. "It's a misdemeanor if the gun isn't loaded. In this case there (also) was no way of proving he was intoxicated beyond a reasonable doubt."
Under the weapons statute in Chapter 571, he explained, the state would have to show the defendant had been substantially impaired by alcohol.
"That's a very high standard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and we just couldn't do that," Jacobs said. "At best, we would be able to show that he had three drinks prior to the incident involving the firearm."
Boyd pointed out the element of intoxication was a huge piece the state would have had to prove to force the felony.
"I think after we talked to the prosecutor's office through the investigation, and the evidence that they had and didn't have - I think this was an amicable resolution to the case," Boyd said.
As for Dixon, he is responsible for the levied fines. He also is no longer allowed to hold a state peace officer license in Missouri after surrendering it in May 2016 when he resigned as Osage County sheriff.
"Our primary concern is that (Dixon) is no longer involved in law enforcement," Jacobs said. "He has relinquished his license, and I don't believe he'll ever be a police officer again."
Because Dixon voluntarily relinquished his peace officer's license, Jacobs added, it would be very unlikely another state would give him a license.