§ 136.430 Civil laws of evidence in criminal trials; exceptions

When it comes to criminal trials, courts generally use the same evidence rules that apply in civil cases. This means things like what counts as proof, how witnesses can testify, and what documents or objects can be shown to a jury usually follow the same standards whether the case is a civil dispute or a criminal charge.

There are some exceptions, though. If a specific law about crimes or criminal procedure says something different, that specific law wins out over the general civil evidence rules. So most of the time, evidence works the same way in both types of cases, but criminal cases can have special rules that change things when the law says so.