Rule 30.33 Trial De Novo or Appeal of Criminal Proceedings Pending Before an Associate Circuit Judge - Procedure

If your criminal case was heard by an associate circuit judge and no official record was kept of the hearing, you have the right to ask for a completely new trial. This is called a "trial de novo." Instead of appealing based on what happened at the first hearing, you get a fresh start with a new trial. The specific steps for asking for this new trial are laid out in Missouri state law, not in these court rules.

If your case was heard by an associate circuit judge but a record was kept (meaning a court reporter or recording device captured what happened), the process works differently. In this situation, you follow the standard appeal process used in other Missouri criminal cases. This means you appeal based on the existing record, rather than starting over with a new trial.

The key difference comes down to whether a record exists. No record means you can ask for a new trial from scratch. A record means you go through the regular appeals process, where a higher court reviews what already happened in your case.