Show Me, Take 2: Missouri Prosecutor Claims Missouri Has Strictest Limitations on Child Molestation Evidence

Last week, I posted an entry about a proposed Missouri Constitutional Amendment that would, in essence, create a state counterpart to Federal Rule of Evidence 414(a) and allow for the admission of prior acts of child molestation by a defendant on trial for child molestation. In that post, I cited an article that quoted prosecutor as saying that “Missouri is now among the most restrictive states in the country when it comes to presenting such evidence.” 

Now, in an op-ed written for the Columbia Daily Tribune, prosecutor Dan Knight argues that

Missouri has the strictest limitations on the use of propensity evidence of any state in the country. Such evidence is specifically allowed in federal courts under the Federal Rules of Evidence, and it is not prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. Because propensity evidence is barred in Missouri, cases involving sex crimes against children are quite possibly more difficult to prosecute in this state than in any other state.

As I noted in my prior post, I see no support for this contention. In a blog post, as of 2011, only 11 states had enacted counterparts to Federal Rule of Evidence 414(a). That means that 39 states (or possibly 1 or 2 fewer if others have since enacted counterparts) have the exact same prohibition of the admissi0n of child molestation evidence as Missouri.

-CM