Rule 79.01.Other Judge Sitting in or Assigned to Court May Perform Judge's Duties--When.

Rule 79.01 addresses a scenario that Missouri's post-trial rules otherwise assume will not happen: the judge who tried the case is no longer available to finish it. That might happen because the judge left office, died, became sick, or is otherwise disabled once a verdict has been returned or findings of fact have been filed.

When that happens, the rule allows any other judge sitting in or assigned to the same court to step in and perform the duties the original judge would have handled — for example, ruling on the after-trial motions discussed throughout Rule 78. The successor judge does not need any special appointment beyond already sitting in or being assigned to that court.

The rule also recognizes that a substitute judge may not always be in a position to do the job. If the judge who steps in is satisfied that those post-verdict duties cannot be performed — whether because that judge did not preside at the trial or for some other reason — the rule permits that judge to grant a new trial instead. This gives the case a path forward even when no judge who observed the original trial remains available to rule on it.

Because this rule ties directly into the post-trial machinery of Rule 78, the successor judge exercising these powers still operates within the same deadlines and standards those rules impose, including the new-trial standard in Rule 78.01 and the ninety-day ruling deadline in Rule 78.06.