7 May 2013
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District to hold docket in Cape Giarardeau
Interested citizens are invited to attend the court sessions of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District when it holds a docket in the Cape Girardeau County Administrative Office, #1 Barton Square, in Jackson. The dockets will be held at 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. May 16, 2013. The court sessions are open to the public. After the court session, time permitting, the judges will participate in a question and answer session about courts and the judicial system with the audience.
Chief Judge Gary Gaertner Jr., said, “We are honored to hold court in Jackson. This docket continues a tradition of the eastern district of convening court in areas outside of St. Louis, where the court regularly conducts its sessions. Our court started traveling to southeast Missouri in 1981, mainly to Cape Girardeau, as a convenience to area attorneys and litigants. We have been coming back to southeast Missouri every year since, and this is the second time the court has traveled to Jackson to hear oral arguments.”
Four judges from the court of appeals will be participating: Chief Judge Gary M. Gaertner Jr., Judge Robert G. Dowd Jr., both from St. Louis; Judge Roy Richter of Montgomery City; and Judge Robert Clayton III of Hannibal. The judges will sit in panels of three to hear oral arguments from attorneys involved in eight cases appealed from the Cape Girardeau County circuit court.
The first docket will convene at 12:30 p.m., with Judges Gaertner, Dowd and Clayton hearing arguments in four cases. Judges Clayton, Dowd and Richter will hear two cases at the second docket at 2:30 p.m., and Judges Gaertner, Richter and Clayton will hear two more cases at 3:30 p.m.
Judge Gaertner was appointed to the court of appeals in 2009. He previously served as a circuit judge, assistant United States attorney and assistant prosecuting attorney. Judge Dowd was appointed to the court of appeals in 1994. He previously served as a circuit judge and associate circuit judge for St. Louis city circuit court. Judge Richter was appointed to the court of appeals in 2006 and previously served as an associate circuit judge in Montgomery County from 1979 to 2006. Judge Clayton was appointed to the court of appeals in 2011. He previously served as a member of the public service commission and state representative, and also practiced law in Hannibal.
The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, is the state’s largest appellate court, with offices in the old post office in downtown St. Louis. There are 14 judges on the court, which hears approximately 50 percent of the intermediate appellate caseload in Missouri. The court’s jurisdiction covers 25 counties and St. Louis city. The court regularly hears cases in St. Louis, Hannibal, Cape Girardeau and other locations in the eastern district.
To view a copy of the eastern division docket, visit the court’s web site at www.courts.mo.gov, select court of appeals from Know Your Courts drop down menu, further select “eastern district” and then “eastern district cases docketed.”
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Contact: Laura Thielmeier Roy
Clerk of Court
Court of Appeals, Eastern District
314-539-4300