The cases, which are open to the public, will be heard on campus in Glenn Auditorium of Robert A. Dempster Hall.
Three cases will be heard, and each attorney involved in the cases will argue for approximately 15 minutes, totaling approximately 30 minutes for each case.
The four judges participating in the court session are Chief Judge James J. Dowd, Judge Lawrence E. Mooney, Judge Philip M. Hess and Judge Lisa P. Page. The judges will sit in panels of three to hear oral arguments from attorneys involved in three cases appealed from trial courts in Cape Girardeau County and St. Francois counties. The Court has held dockets at Southeast on six prior occasions.
We are pleased to be able to hold another docket at the University to allow students to see first-hand an appellate court in action, Dowd said. “As the Court of Appeals for the many counties that make up the Eastern District of Missouri, we hold Court in the northern and southern portions of our district, and do not restrict ourselves to hearing cases only in the main courthouse in St. Louis.
After the court session, the public is welcome to stay for a question-and-answer session with audience members and students regarding courts, the role of judges and the judicial system. This is a great opportunity for all students but especially those in the Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology and the Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Religion.
The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, is the states largest appellate court, with offices in the historic Old Post Office in downtown St. Louis. There are 14 judges on the court, which handles approximately 50 percent of the intermediate appellate caseload in Missouri. The court regularly hears cases in St. Louis, Hannibal, Cape Girardeau and other locations in the Eastern District.
Judge Dowd was appointed in June of 2015 after practicing law in St. Louis at The James M. Dowd Law Firm, Dowd & Dowd, and Watson & Dameron. Judge Mooney was appointed to the Court in 1998, after serving as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and Executive Assistant to County Executive Buzz Westfall. Judge Hess was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2013. Previously, he practiced law in St. Louis in private practice. Judge Page, one of the Courts newest judges and a 1988 magna cum laude graduate of Southeast Missouri State University, was appointed in December 2015 after serving as a Circuit Judge, a Family Court Commissioner and a municipal judge.
To receive a copy of the Southern Division-Cape Girardeau October docket, visit the Courts web site atwww.courts.mo.gov, select Missouri Court of Appeals from the About Your Courts drop down menu, select Court of Appeals and then further select Eastern District and Eastern District Cases Docketed.