Section 9.19 Judicial Notice

• Library: Civil Trial Practice 2015 Supp

4. (§9.19) Judicial Notice

There are various things that can be proven at a trial that do not need to be proven through evidence and witnesses because they are matters of judicial notice. Judicial notice encompasses both the judicial knowledge that courts possess and common knowledge, which jurors possess. Bone v. Gen. Motors Corp., 322 S.W.2d 916, 924 (Mo. 1959). Matters that the trial court will take judicial notice of do not need to be proven because they are already known by the court and jury. The question of whether a court will take judicial notice of a given fact is at the discretion of the trial judge; if there is any doubt about a given fact, the party seeking judicial notice will be compelled to prove it. Laclede Elec. Coop. v. Booker, 804 S.W.2d 50, 51 (Mo. App. S.D. 1991).

There are countless matters that a trial judge may take judicial notice of. But it should never be assumed that the trial judge will take judicial notice of any fact. For instance, in order to establish proper venue, it may be necessary to show that the collision occurred in the City of St. Louis. It may or may not...