Section 2.17 Scientific Evidence

• Library: Evidence 2017

VIII. (§2.17) Scientific Evidence

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens officially signed House Bill 153 into law on March 28, 2017, repealing the prior § 490.065, RSMo, and replacing it with admissibility standards mirroring those of the federal decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993). The bill’s effective date is August 28, 2017. It provides as follows:

1. In actions brought under chapter 451, 452, 453, 454, or 455 or in actions adjudicated in juvenile courts under chapter 211 or in family courts under chapter 487, or in all proceedings before the probate division of the circuit court, or in all actions or proceedings in which there is no right to a jury trial:

(1) If scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise;

(2) Testimony by such an expert witness in the form of an opinion or inference otherwise admissible is not objectionable because it embraces an ultimate issue to be decided by the trier of fact;

(3) The facts or data in a particular case upon which an expert bases an opinion or inference may be those perceived...