Missouri · statute · Mo. Rev. Stat. ch. 565 · 56 active provisions
1. The provisions of this chapter shall govern the construction and procedures for charging, trial, punishment and appellate review of any offense defined in this chapter and committed after July 1, 1984. 2. The provisions of this chapter shall not govern the construction or procedures for charging, trial, punishment o…
As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is otherwise plainly required the following terms mean: (1) "Adequate cause", cause that would reasonably produce a degree of passion in a person of ordinary temperament sufficient to substantially impair an ordinary person's capacity for self-control; (2) "Child", a…
1. (1) The culpable mental state necessary for a homicide offense may be found to exist if the only difference between what actually occurred and what was the object of the offender's state of mind is that a different person or persons were killed. (2) It shall not be a defense to a homicide charge that the identity of…
1. Each homicide offense which is lawfully joined in the same indictment or information together with any homicide offense or offense other than a homicide shall be charged together with such offense in separate counts. A count charging any offense of homicide may only be charged and tried together with one or more cou…
1. At a reasonable time before the commencement of the first stage of any trial of murder in the first degree at which the death penalty is not waived, the state and defendant, upon request and without order of the court, shall serve counsel of the opposing party with: (1) A list of all aggravating or mitigating circum…
1. At any time before the commencement of the trial of a homicide offense, the defendant may, with the assent of the court, waive a trial by jury and agree to submit all issues in the case to the court, whose finding shall have the force and effect of a verdict of a jury. Such a waiver must include a waiver of a trial…
1. When conduct is charged to constitute an offense because it causes or threatens physical injury, consent to that conduct or to the infliction of the injury is a defense only if: (1) The physical injury consented to or threatened by the conduct is not serious physical injury; or (2) The conduct and the harm are reaso…
The repeal and reenactment of sections 565.002, 565.050, 565.052, 565.054, 565.056, 565.072, 565.073, 565.074, 565.076, 565.090, 565.091, 565.225, and 565.227 and the enactment of sections 27.117, 565.260, 565.400, and 565.405 of this act* shall become effective on July 1, 2027.
1. A person commits the offense of murder in the first degree if he or she knowingly causes the death of another person after deliberation upon the matter. 2. The offense of murder in the first degree is a class A felony, and, if a person is eighteen years of age or older at the time of the offense, the punishment shal…
1. A person commits the offense of murder in the second degree if he or she: (1) Knowingly causes the death of another person or, with the purpose of causing serious physical injury to another person, causes the death of another person; or (2) Commits or attempts to commit any felony, and, in the perpetration or the at…
1. A person commits the offense of voluntary manslaughter if he or she: (1) Causes the death of another person under circumstances that would constitute murder in the second degree under subdivision (1) of subsection 1 of section 565.021, except that he or she caused the death under the influence of sudden passion aris…
1. A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree if he or she recklessly causes the death of another person. 2. The offense of involuntary manslaughter in the first degree is a class C felony, unless the victim is intentionally targeted as a law enforcement officer, as defined in section…
1. A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the second degree if he or she acts with criminal negligence to cause the death of any person. 2. The offense of involuntary manslaughter in the second degree is a class E felony, unless the victim is intentionally targeted as a law enforcement officer, as…
1. With the exceptions provided in subsection 3 of this section and subsection 3 of section 565.021, section 556.046 shall be used for the purpose of consideration of lesser offenses by the trier in all homicide cases. 2. The following lists shall comprise, in the order listed, the lesser degree offenses: (1) The lesse…
1. Where murder in the first degree is charged but not submitted or where the state waives the death penalty, the submission to the trier and all subsequent proceedings in the case shall proceed as in all other criminal cases. 2. Where murder in the first degree is submitted to the trier without a waiver of the death p…
1. In all cases of murder in the first degree for which the death penalty is authorized, the judge in a jury-waived trial shall consider, or shall include in his or her instructions to the jury for it to consider: (1) Whether a statutory aggravating circumstance or circumstances enumerated in subsection 2 of this secti…
1. A person found guilty of murder in the first degree who was under the age of eighteen at the time of the commission of the offense shall be sentenced to a term of life without eligibility for probation or parole as provided in section 565.034, life imprisonment with eligibility for parole, or not less than thirty ye…
1. If the state intends to seek a sentence of life without eligibility for probation or parole for a person charged with murder in the first degree who was under the age of eighteen at the time of the commission of the offense, the state must file with the court and serve upon the person a written notice of intent to s…
1. Whenever the death penalty is imposed in any case, and upon the judgment becoming final in the trial court, the sentence shall be reviewed on the record by the supreme court of Missouri. The circuit clerk of the court trying the case, within ten days after receiving the transcript, shall transmit the entire record a…
1. In the event that the death penalty provided in this chapter is held to be unconstitutional, any person convicted of murder in the first degree shall be sentenced by the court to life imprisonment without eligibility for probation, parole, or release except by act of the governor, with the exception that when a spec…
1. A person commits the offense of assault in the first degree if he or she attempts to kill or knowingly causes or attempts to cause serious physical injury to another person. 2. The offense of assault in the first degree is a class B felony unless in the course thereof the person inflicts serious physical injury on t…
1. A person commits the offense of assault in the second degree if he or she: (1) Attempts to kill or knowingly causes or attempts to cause serious physical injury to another person under the influence of sudden passion arising out of adequate cause; or (2) Attempts to cause or knowingly causes physical injury to anoth…
1. A person commits the offense of assault in the third degree if he or she knowingly causes physical injury to another person. 2. The offense of assault in the third degree is a class E felony, unless the victim of such assault is a special victim, as the term "special victim" is defined under section 565.002, in whic…
1. A person commits the offense of assault in the fourth degree if: (1) The person attempts to cause or recklessly causes physical injury, physical pain, or illness to another person; (2) With criminal negligence the person causes physical injury to another person by means of a firearm; (3) The person purposely places…
1. Any special victim as defined under section 565.002 shall not be required to reveal any current address or place of residence except to the court in camera for the purpose of determining jurisdiction and venue. 2. Any special victim as defined under section 565.002 may file a petition with the court alleging assault…