JEFFERSON CITY - The Senate debated a bill Tuesday, Mar. 10 that would establish when and under what circumstances an expert witness can testify in court, but it got no further than a filibuster by multiple senators.

Republican Sens. Eric Schmitt and Kurt Schaefer took up most of time during the filibuster.   

Earlier in the day, bill sponsor Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, said the bill is much-needed.

"These rules stress the importance of trial court establishing the reliability in expert testimony," Kehoe said.

"Forty states have now adopted the Daubert... Standard to use in their court systems," Sen. Kehoe continued. "All of our surrounding states with the exception Illinois now use this standard and Missourians who have appeared in front of the federal court are already operating under the standard. So, It's only the state court that has not adopted it yet."

The Daubert Standard determines whether an expert witnesses' testimony can be used in a federal court preceeding.  

Sen. Jill Schupp, D-St. Louis County, asked Kehoe what is the effect of the bill on the family law cases, but specifically domestic violence cases.  

Schupp cited Lisa K. Page, the Presiding Judge of the Circuit Judges Association who said she has serious concerns about the effect of the proposed bill on those type of cases.

Kehoe said he understands these concerns, but doesn't believe the bill will affect those types of cases. 

"I don't want to downplay what families dealing with domestic violence situations go through because I'm very familiar with that, unfortunately," Kehoe said. "This would not add the additional costs and burdens that everybody believes it would in a domestic violence case."

Schupp proceeded to offer an amendment that urged the Senate to allow the expert's expertise in the expert's opinion rather than the testimony itself.

The overlapped expressions on the testimony could be erased.

Schupp then asked Sen. Scott Sifton, D-St. Louis County, about the amendment and what effect it would have.  

"What the underlying bill does is it deletes from current statute the existing expert witness standard and inserts the federal standard," Sifton said. "What your amendment would appear to do is modify that insertion of the federal standard by reinserting part of the existing state standard."

Sifton and Schupp also discussed the appeals process of an expert witness and the timing of the motion.

When the Senate came back for their evening session, senators began a filibuster that began shortly after 7 p.m. and lasted until midnight, culminating with the bill being laid over.