ST. LOUIS - The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District has denied a pro se litigant's appeal of a judgment entered against him at the St. Louis Circuit Court.
Thomas Myers had appealed Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser's decision to allow the revival of a $13,396.66 default judgment against him that had been obtained by Unifund CCR Partners, an assignee of Citibank of South Dakota NA, in a debt collection matter.
A three-judge appeals panel dismissed Myers' petition March 13, citing “substantial violations of Rule 84.04" and other “significant deficiencies” in his appellate brief.
Rule 84.04 requires a jurisdictional statement containing sufficient factual data to demonstrate the applicability of the particular provision of Article V, Section 3 of the Missouri Constitution on which jurisdiction is predicated, the ruling states.
"Myer's jurisdictional statement contained argumentative assertions and no reference to the constitutional basis for this court's jurisdiction," the ruling states.
It further states that the rule requires a "fair and concise" statement of facts with corresponding citations to the legal file.
Writing for the three-judge panel, Judge Lisa Van Amburg noted that pro se litigations are "bound by the same rules of procedures as parties represented by lawyers and are not entitled to indulgences they would not have received if represented by counsel."
“While this court recognizes the problems faced by pro se litigants, we cannot relax our standards for non-lawyers,” van Amburg wrote. "It is not for lack of sympathy but, rather, a necessity of judicial impartiality, judicial economy, and fairness to all parties. Myers has failed to comply with Rules 84.04 and 84.13 so substantially that his appeal is unreviewable. The appeal is dismissed."
Concurring were presiding Judge Colleen Dolan and Judge Mary K. Hoff.