562.031. Ignorance and mistake. - Missouri Statutes

Ignorance and mistake.

562.031. 1. A person is not relieved of criminal liabilityfor conduct because he engages in such conduct under a mistakenbelief of fact or law unless such mistake negatives the existenceof the mental state required by the offense.

2. A person is not relieved of criminal liability forconduct because he believes his conduct does not constitute anoffense unless his belief is reasonable and

(1) The offense is defined by an administrative regulationor order which is not known to him and has not been published orotherwise made reasonably available to him, and he could not haveacquired such knowledge by the exercise of due diligence pursuantto facts known to him; or

(2) He acts in reasonable reliance upon an officialstatement of the law, afterward determined to be invalid orerroneous, contained in

(a) A statute;

(b) An opinion or order of an appellate court;

(c) An official interpretation of the statute, regulation ororder defining the offense made by a public official or agencylegally authorized to interpret such statute, regulation ororder.

3. The burden of injecting the issue of reasonable beliefthat conduct does not constitute an offense under subdivisions(1) and (2) of subsection 2 is on the defendant.

(L. 1977 S.B. 60)

Effective 1-1-79