Section 38 Juvenile OfficerasExpertWitness

• Library: Juvenile Law 2011

The admissibility of a juvenile officer’s opinions or conclusions in a dispositional proceeding under the Juvenile Code, Chapter 211, RSMo, has never been directly addressed by the appellate courts of Missouri. Clearly, the juvenile officer’s opinion regarding, for example, the fitness of a custodian to care for a child could be of value and aid to the court. But for that opinion to be admissible, it must be appropriate and suitable for expert testimony. One test for admissibility is whether a matter at issue in a case is of such complexity that expert opinion is needed for the trier of fact to draw proper conclusions from the facts presented. See, e.g., Stephens v. Kansas City Gas Co., 191 S.W.2d 601 (Mo. 1946). It...