§610 Religious Beliefs or Opinions

• Library: Evidence Restated Deskbook (2021 Ed.)

§610 Religious Beliefs or Opinions

Evidence of a witness's religious beliefs or opinions is not admissible to attack or support the witness's credibility.

Notes

The common law rendered a witness expressing a lack of belief in a deity incompetent to testify. That disqualification was removed by article I, § 5, of the Missouri Constitution, which provides "that no person shall, on account of his religious persuasion or belief
be . . . disqualified from testifying." Similar language appeared in:

· article II, § 5, of the 1875 Missouri Constitution;

· article I, § 3, of the 1865 Missouri Constitution; and

· article XIII, §§ 4 and 5, of the 1820 Missouri Constitution.

Accordingly, it was held in Londener v. Lictenheim, 11 Mo. App. 385 (E.D. 1882), that the defendant's objection to the deposition of the plaintiff on the ground that the plaintiff was an atheist was properly overruled.

In 1934, the Supreme Court of Missouri held that the provision not only removed the disqualification from testifying because of religious beliefs, it also prevented inquiry into a witness's religious beliefs to affect that witness's credibility:

Clearly the great weight of authority is that under constitutional provisions such as ours, the question of a witness' personal belief . . . cannot be inquired into, especially of the witness himself, for the purpose of affecting his credibility. . . .

. . . .

. . . [S]ince the jury is the sole judge...