MissouriJury Nullification
In Missouri the first instruction a jury hears says the court instructs on the law and the jury determines the facts. It tells jurors it is their duty to follow the law as the court gives it. A later instruction says the verdict, guilty or not guilty, has to be agreed to by every juror. The state constitution keeps the right of trial by jury as it was enjoyed before. It also says that in suits and prosecutions for libel the jury, under the direction of the court, determines the law and the facts.
Overview
Juries in Missouri
Missouri makes it Instruction No. 1. Right after the jury is sworn, the judge reads that the court instructs on the law and the jury determines the facts from the evidence. It says it is your duty to follow the law as the court gives it to you.
That first instruction is read once, before any evidence, and is not read again when the evidence is finished. Where it goes after that, and what the closing instructions add to it, is in the Missouri chapter of the guide.
The Missouri constitution keeps the right of trial by jury as heretofore enjoyed. The fractions it sets for a verdict, two thirds and three fourths, are for civil cases. Where Missouri says a criminal verdict has to be unanimous is in the chapter.
The Missouri chapter
What's in the Guide for Missouri?
Jury selection
The order in which a Missouri jury hears its instructions, from the one read before questioning begins to the two read straight after the oath, and how a criminal trial is ordered by statute.
What the judge tells you
What Missouri's first instruction says about the judge's job and the jury's, why an approved instruction has to be used when one fits, and what the judge's remarks are not meant to tell you.
How the verdict works
What the verdict instruction asks of each Missouri juror, who signs the verdict, and what the jury hands back to the court with it.
Protections and risks
What Missouri law says about a juror who promises a vote before the case is handed over, and about a juror who receives information about the case outside the courtroom and keeps it to themselves.
The law in plain English
The Missouri laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the statute on the order of a criminal trial and written instructions, the laws on misconduct by a juror and on tampering with a judicial officer, the court rules on approved instructions and on verdicts, and two sections of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to Missouri's official sources, each one checked. They cover the statutes and constitution on the Revisor's site, the Missouri Courts' rules, the approved criminal instructions, and the Missouri Courts' page for jurors.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Missouri?
A Missouri jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to determine the facts of a case from the evidence. The court instructs you on the law.
The Missouri Courts have a page for jurors, and a Juror Portal for answering a summons. They cover reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
Those cover the summons. The order of the instructions you will hear, what the first one asks of you, and what Missouri law expects of a juror outside the courtroom are covered in the Missouri chapter of the guide.
Your Missouri summons
- Sent byThe county board of jury commissioners
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, determine the facts of a case from the evidence
- Jury size12 (Circuit Court), 6 (Associate Circuit Court)