Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 562
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 562.051 (2026)

Conviction of different degrees of offenses

✓ laws through the 2026 session (checked Sept. 2026)
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MO-REVrevisor.mo.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

  562.051.  Conviction of different degrees of offenses. — Except as otherwise provided, when two or more persons are criminally responsible for an offense which is divided into degrees, each person is guilty of such degree as is compatible with his or her own culpable mental state and with his or her own accountability for an aggravating or mitigating fact or circumstance.

­­--------

(L. 1977 S.B. 60, A.L. 2014 S.B. 491)

Effective 1-01-17

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 22 cases, 1981–2018 · leading case: State v. White, 622 S.W.2d 939 (Mo. 1981).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State v. White, 622 S.W.2d 939 (Mo. 1981). · cites it 49× “051 is applicable." This Note on Use refers to MAI-CR2d 2.”
State v. Boggs, 634 S.W.2d 447 (Mo. 1982). · cites it 24× “Defendant's last two assertions of instructional error center on application of § 562.051, which deals with convictions of different degrees of offenses.”
State v. Betts, 646 S.W.2d 94 (Mo. 1983). · cites it 18× “" It was error to use the word "will" rather than "may", because criminal responsibility in this case depends upon party liability and because § 562.051, RSMo 1978, applies. This statute states: "[W]hen two or more persons are criminally responsible for an offense which is…”
State v. Roberts, 709 S.W.2d 857 (Mo. 1986). · cites it 12× “[2] The Court noted the jury was additionally instructed that the defendant's culpability should be determined on each degree of the offense individually and independently from other defendants.”
Booker v. State, 552 S.W.3d 522 (Mo. 2018). · cites it 8× “He contends it is possible he pleaded guilty just because he had some involvement in a fight that ended with an individual sustaining serious physical injuries even though it was never his purpose to cause serious physical injury.”
State v. McIlvoy, 629 S.W.2d 333 (Mo. 1982). · cites it 6× “in any case where § 562.051 [3] is applicable." As discussed above, Instruction No.”
State v. Quisenberry, 639 S.W.2d 579 (Mo. 1982). · cites it 8× “The treatment of culpable mental states in the code is quite thorough; Section 562.051, [11] in fact, clearly contemplates that different mental states might lead to conviction of different degrees of the same offense.”
State v. Johns, 679 S.W.2d 253 (Mo. 1984). · cites it 4× “In such cases, § 562.051, RSMo 1978, permits the defendant or the state to present evidence aggravating or mitigating the matter.”
State v. Ervin, 835 S.W.2d 905 (Mo. 1992). · cites it 2× “A defendant, in a state of cool blood, may promote a murder by aiding a person who kills in the heat of passion.”
State v. Smith, 229 S.W.3d 85 (Mo. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 4× “With respect to such situations, the Court held that: “§ 562.051, RSMo 1978, permits the defendant or the [S]tate to present evidence aggravating or mitigating the matter,” by introducing evidence showing that he did not have the purpose or conscious object of aiding in the…”
State v. White, 421 S.W.3d 560 (Mo. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 6× “See Section 562.051, RSMo 2000, and State v. Ervin, 835 S.”
State of Missouri v. Danielle Johnson, 456 S.W.3d 521 (Mo. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 8× “In support of his argument, Johnson first directs this Court to Section 562.051, which states: Except as otherwise provided, when two or more persons are criminally responsible for an offense which is divided into degrees, each person is guilty of such degree as is compatible…”
Show all 22 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.