Law Commons^™

Plain English Or Plain Confusing, Dylan Lager Murray

Missouri Law Review

A "presumption of perfection" attaches to the pattern instructions that Missouri judges read to jurors in every civil case.' Missouri law presumes that these instructions, as set forth in Missouri Approved Jury Instructions("MAI") Fifth Edition, are not only infallible statements of the law, but also perfectly comprehensible to the average juror. Even if jurors in a given case complain that they do not understand a particular pattern instruction, the trial judge is without recourse, required to leave these instructions undisturbed even if a more understandable improvement might result. In contrast to the emphasis in many states upon legal accuracy,' as …