Missouri Laws 577.037 – Chemical tests, results admitted into evidence, when, effect of
1. Upon the trial of any person for any criminal offense or violations of county or municipal ordinances, or in any license suspension or revocation proceeding pursuant to the provisions of chapter 302, arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by any person while operating a vehicle, vessel, or aircraft, or acting as a flight crew member of any aircraft, while in an intoxicated condition or with an excessive blood alcohol content, the amount of alcohol in the person’s blood at the time of the act, as shown by any chemical analysis of the person’s blood, breath, saliva, or urine, is admissible in evidence and the provisions of subdivision (5) of section 491.060 shall not prevent the admissibility or introduction of such evidence if otherwise admissible.
2. If a chemical analysis of the defendant‘s breath, blood, saliva, or urine demonstrates there was eight-hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person’s blood, this shall be prima facie evidence that the person was intoxicated at the time the specimen was taken. If a chemical analysis of the defendant’s breath, blood, saliva, or urine demonstrates that there was less than eight-hundredths of one percent of alcohol in the defendant’s blood, any charge alleging a criminal offense related to the operation of a vehicle, vessel, or aircraft while in an intoxicated condition shall be dismissed with prejudice unless one or more of the following considerations cause the court to find a dismissal unwarranted:
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 577.037
- Controlled substance: a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in schedules I to V listed in section 195. See Missouri Laws 577.001
- Court: any circuit, associate circuit, or municipal court, including traffic court, but not any juvenile court or treatment court. See Missouri Laws 577.001
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Flight crew member: the pilot in command, copilots, flight engineers, and flight navigators. See Missouri Laws 577.001
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- intoxicated condition: when a person is under the influence of alcohol, a controlled substance, or drug, or any combination thereof. See Missouri Laws 577.001
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(1) There is evidence that the chemical analysis is unreliable as evidence of the defendant’s intoxication at the time of the alleged violation due to the lapse of time between the alleged violation and the obtaining of the specimen;
(2) There is evidence that the defendant was under the influence of a controlled substance, or drug, or a combination of either or both with or without alcohol; or
(3) There is substantial evidence of intoxication from physical observations of witnesses or admissions of the defendant.
3. Percent by weight of alcohol in the blood shall be based upon grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood or grams of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath.
4. The foregoing provisions of this section shall not be construed as limiting the introduction of any other competent evidence bearing upon the question of whether the person was intoxicated.
5. A chemical analysis of a person’s breath, blood, saliva or urine, in order to give rise to the presumption or to have the effect provided for in subsection 2 of this section, shall have been performed as provided in sections 577.020 to 577.041 and in accordance with methods and standards approved by the state department of health and senior services.