Section 7.9 Witnesses and Their Statements

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

1. (§7.9) Witnesses and Their Statements

Rule 25.03(A)(1) requires the state to furnish to the defendant names and addresses of witnesses it intends to call at trial or at any hearing. The duty to disclose is a continuing one. State v. Turner-Bey, 812 S.W.2d 799 (Mo. App. W.D. 1991), overruled on other grounds by State v. Carson, 941 S.W.2d 518 (Mo. banc 1997). Initially, the state must list the names of all material witnesses for the prosecution “except rebuttal witnesses and witnesses who will appear upon the trial for the production or identification of public records” in the indictment or information. Rule 23.01(e). “Additional witnesses may be listed at any time after notice to the defendant upon order of the court.” Id. In addition to the names of witnesses, the state must disclose the witnesses’ written or recorded statements and any existing memoranda reporting or summarizing part or all of their oral statements. Rule 25.03(A)(1). Failure to endorse witnesses before trial violates this Rule. State v. Whitfield, 837 S.W.2d 503, 507 (Mo. banc 1992).

But the trial court has broad discretion in allowing late endorsement of a state’s witness, and the defendant bears the burden of demonstrating an abuse of that discretion. State v. Jones, 854 S.W.2d 60, 64 (Mo. App. E.D. 1993). Factors used to determine whether the trial court abused its discretion in permitting the state’s late...