Section 16.2 Criminal Cases

• Library: Evidence 2017

B. (§16.2) Criminal Cases

In general, the rules of admission are consistent between civil and criminal cases. There are no separate federal rules of civil evidence, for example. See the citation of cases defining “hearsay” as collected in 33 William A. Schroeder, Missouri Practice, Courtroom Handbook On Missouri Evidence § 800.1 (2016). Criminal defendants, however, have certain constitutional and procedural rights that prohibit the admission of hearsay regardless of the rules of evidence.

The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees that in criminal cases “the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” The Due Process Clause extends this federal right to the states. Pointer v. Tex., 380 U.S. 400, 403 (1965). See also article I, § 18(a), of the Missouri Constitution, declaring that a criminal defendant has the right “to meet the witnesses against him face to face.”

The U.S. Supreme...