Section 3.2 True Judicial Admissions

• Library: Sources of Proof (2014 Ed.)

A. (§3.2) True Judicial Admissions

A true judicial admission is a statement of record by a party or the party’s attorney in the litigated case that concedes the truth of some material fact so that:

· the opposing party does not need to offer evidence to prove that fact; and

· the party making the statement is not allowed to disprove it.

See:

· Goudeaux v. Bd. of Police Comm’rs of Kansas City, 409 S.W.3d 508, 519 (Mo. App. W.D. 2013)

· Self v. Brunson, 213 S.W.3d 149, 154 (Mo. App. E.D. 2006)

· Meekins v. St. John’s Reg’l Health Ctr., Inc., 149 S.W.3d 525, 531 (Mo. App. S.D. 2004)

· Owens v. Dougherty, 84 S.W.3d 542, 547 (Mo. App. S.D. 2002)

· Byron J. Myers, Inc. v. Bradbury, 595 S.W.2d 724, 726 (Mo. App. W.D. 1980)

· Cross Keys Publ’g Co. v. LL Bar T Land & Cattle Co., 887 F. Supp. 219, 223 (E.D. Mo. 1995)

· Hurst v. Jenkins, 908 S.W.2d 783, 786 (Mo. App. W.D. 1995)

· Ferrier-Harris, Ltd. v. Sanders, 905 S.W.2d 123, 125 (Mo. App. E.D. 1995)

· Peterson v. Medlock, 884 S.W.2d 679, 684 (Mo. App. S.D. 1994)

The true judicial admission is conclusive as to all material facts fairly included within the admission. The trier of fact, whether judge or jury, must accept the facts established by the judicial admissions.

A true judicial admission is not evidence at all, but a waiver of the need to introduce evidence to establish a fact in issue. “Or, as Wigmore says, a judicial admission ‘is, in truth, a substitute for evidence, in that it does away with the need for evidence.’” Chilton v. Gorden, 952 S.W.2d 773, 777 (Mo. App. S.D. 1997) (quoting 9 WIGMORE, EVIDENCE § 2588 (Chadbourn rev. 1981)).

A judicial admission is a limitation of contested issues; it establishes the fact with which it is concerned. It differs from ordinary evidence in that the judicial admission is not something to be weighed and then accepted or rejected by the trier of fact. See:

· Young v. Frozen Foods Express, Inc., 444 S.W.2d 35, 39 (Mo. App. E.D. 1969)

· Jenkins v. Wabash R.R. Co., 322 S.W.2d 788, 794 (Mo. 1959)

· Wehrli v. Wabash R.R. Co., 315 S.W.2d 765, 774 (Mo. 1958), cert. denied, 358 U.S. 932 (1959)

A judicial admission includes stipulations, statements made by parties and counsel, and other formal statements during trial. See:

· Chilton, 952 S.W.2d at 778

· Wild v. Consol. Aluminum Corp., 752 S.W.2d 335, 338 (Mo. App. E.D. 1988)

· Donze Lake Dev. Corp. v. Holliday, 588 S.W.2d 251, 252 (Mo. App. E.D. 1979)

Merely inconsistent and...