Law School to Host Missouri Court of Appeals Special Session – October 11

The law school is hosting a Special Session of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District on Thursday, October 11 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom (AB Hall, No. 310) beginning at 1 p.m. The attorneys for the three cases―regarding a property line dispute, legal representation of a defendant in a child sexual abuse case, and an alderman’s defamation claims―will have 15 minutes each to argue their sides. A Q&A on judicial procedure and an informal Q&A on judicial clerkships will follow, ending at about 3 p.m.

The cases center on:

  • The denial of a prescriptive easement in a property line dispute between neighbors related to the location of a fence and to landscaping that had been maintained for more than 20 years. The appeal centers on whether the requirements were met for a proscriptive easement, including ongoing and open use of the property, and whether damages for one of the neighbor’s destroyed trees should have been awarded.
  • The disqualification of a defendant’s attorney in a sexual abuse case and the defendant’s right to counsel of choice guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 18(a) of the Missouri Constitution. The defendant was convicted by a jury and received two concurrent life sentences.
  • The denial of a directed verdict and motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict after a jury awarded a St. Louis City alderman $150,000 in damages in his defamation suit. The lawsuit was related to a recall petition and the alderman’s involvement in several redevelopment projects. The appeal addresses whether there was clear and convincing evidence of actual malice; whether defamation and actual damages were proven; and whether the complaints were constitutionally protected speech.

Visitors are asked to enter and exit only during breaks in the arguments. All students are encouraged to attend as much of the session as their schedules allow.

The panel will be made up of Chief Judge Gary M. Gaertner, Jr.; Judge Robert M. Clayton, III; Judge Patricia L. Cohen; and Judge Lawrence E. Mooney. The court periodically holds special sessions at law schools as part of an educational outreach program. The briefs can be accessed below.

Please make every effort to be as quiet as possible while the court is in session, both in the hallway and while entering and exiting the courtroom. The doors for the courtroom will open at the end of each case. Please do not wear any ball caps and leave your backpacks and laptops behind.Please also do not bring any food or drink into the courtroom.  

The cases in the order they will be heard are:

1 p.m., AP Civil Appeal Circuit, ED97989 
Don Doll and Karen Doll vs. William C. Kiser and Eileen Rodriguez-Kiser&

[case summary]
[view appellant’s brief]
[view respondent’s brief]
[view reply brief]

1:30 p.m. (approx.), AP Criminal Appeal Circuit, ED97205 
State of Missouri vs. Jerry Beck 

[case summary]
[view appellant’s brief]
[view respondent’s brief] 

2 p.m. (approx.), AP Civil Appeal Circuit, ED97989 
Thomas Bauer vs. 7-Eleven Inc. and Randy C. Munton, Inc. 

[view case summary]
[view appellant’s brief]
[view respondent’s brief]
[view reply brief]