Missouri Mock Trial Rules

Key Differences from Federal Rules of Evidence

• Missouri has not adopted a comprehensive code of evidence rules; its evidence law is based on common law supplemented by statutes in RSMo ch. 491
• Missouri follows a quasi-Daubert standard for expert testimony after State Board of Registration for Healing Arts v. McDonagh, requiring reliability but not exclusively the Daubert factors
• Missouri's hearsay rules are largely judge-made common law, providing more flexibility but less predictability than FRE-based systems
• Missouri's dead man's statute (RSMo § 491.010) bars interested parties from testifying about communications with deceased persons

Notable Rules

Key Features

• Missouri Circuit Courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction across 45 judicial circuits
• Missouri uses the MAI (Missouri Approved Instructions) system for jury instructions, requiring verbatim use of approved instructions when available
• Voir dire is conducted primarily by attorneys under Mo. R. Civ. P. 69.025 with generous time allotments

• Civil juries consist of 12 jurors; verdict requires agreement of 9 of 12 (three-fourths)
• Criminal juries require 12 jurors with unanimous verdict for conviction
• Missouri is one of the few states retaining 12-person civil juries as the default