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Hopefully that makes some sense.

Hey,thanks for weighing in on this.It's posts like yours that remind me that the semi-literate like myself wouldn't stand a chance in law school! ;-)

Another question,if you have a minute...under what circumstances would records of a juvenile's criminal/police record in Missouri *not* be eligible for release once that individual is deceased? I ask because,as you may know,there are reports that the "Gentle Giant" had a *serious* record of criminality as a juvenile and some organization is demanding that the records be released.Thanks for any time you're willing to spend educating me (us)!

I would have to dig into some case law to probably find that one. I do know there is a Missouri case called Smith v. Harold's Supermarket, Inc., 685 S.W.2d 859 that addressed the usage of juvenile records in a wrongful death lawsuit where the juvenile had died. The court allowed the juvenile records in, Plaintiff (the juvenile's mom) appealed and lost.

The Court's basic reasoning was that the juvenile records were sealed in order to protect the juvenile: "the prohibition against use of juvenile court reports and records is for the exclusive protection of the juvenile and does not extend to any other person or proceeding which is neither occasioned by or brought against the juvenile."

Now, this was a wrongful death case, and the issue at hand was the "pecuniary worth of the juvenile" because they were trying to figure out the damages based on the potential future value of the juvenile's life. That being said, if the Missouri courts used the reasoning by the Missouri Court of Appeals in the Brown case, then it's plausible that juvenile records of the deceased may be open to disclosure since they would no longer technically exist to protect the juvenile.

I did a quick scan of the Missouri Statutes (Chapter 211 covers the juvenile courts) and didn't see anything in there that was on point. The disclosure of the Brown records would probably be argued from case law, and I would think any attorney trying to get them unsealed would rely on the Smith holding for sure. Nonetheless, I'm sure there are numerous other cases that deal with it. If I have some time this weekend, I'll poke around a bit.