Section 16.35 Judgment of Prior Conviction

• Library: Evidence 2017

B. (§16.35) Judgment of Prior Conviction

The hearsay exception for admission of a prior judgment of conviction is unusual in that it does not raise concerns of trustworthiness. Rather, it is an evidentiary rule that finds its source and justification in the principles governing the doctrine of collateral estoppel. A criminal conviction includes a judgment after trial, a plea of guilty, or a plea of nolo contendere.

“Generally speaking,” it has long been the law that a guilty plea is an admission that may be used against a party in a civil case in the same manner as any other type of admission. See, e.g., State v. Daniels, 789 S.W.2d 243, 245 (Mo. App. W.D. 1990) (quoting Pruiett v. Wilform, 477 S.W.2d 76, 80 (Mo. 1972)). The admission of the plea is “not conclusive” and may be explained. Daniels, 789 S.W.2d at 245 (quoting Pruiett, 477 S.W.2d at 80). A criminal conviction upon a not-guilty plea is not admissible in a civil case.Daniels, 789 S.W.2d at 245.

The rule of exclusion of the prior conviction in the civil case after a plea of not guilty does not apply if the civil litigant is denied by the principles of collateral estoppel from contesting the facts in the civil case. For example, in Daniels, 789 S.W.2d 243, the defendant could not object to the admission of the prior conviction in the criminal case to contest his possession of the drug in the civil...