By Bill McClellan
March 17, 2014
STL
Earlier this month, St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch wrote an essay in this newspaper in which he urged the Missouri Legislature to pass a revision of the state’s Criminal Code.
“For four years, a team of veteran prosecutors and defense attorneys labored line-by-line over the entire body of Missouri’s criminal law and crafted a draft based upon consensus and practical application to modern reality in the criminal justice system,” he wrote.
It’s great to hear from the experts, but if ordinary citizens had a say in the matter, I bet one of the top recommendations would be this: Let juries know more.
Often, spectators know more — including crucial information — than the jury. Let’s say a guy has twice gone to prison for breaking into a house and assaulting a woman. Now he’s on trial for breaking into a house and assaulting a woman.
Should the jury know about the convictions? Common sense says yes, but the law says no. The information about the first two convictions would be prejudicial.
Well, actually the law doesn’t say no. It hedges. If the defendant testifies, the jury can learn about the earlier convictions.