Citing COVID-19 and concerns about finding impartial jurors, St. Louis City Circuit Judge Christopher McGraugh said he may reschedule a trial concerning the Rams National Football League (NFL) team relocating to Los Angeles.
The trial was originally scheduled for October 2021, but has been pushed to January 2022 amid the pandemic lockdowns.
“What the judge is saying is don't come back until it's safe and when we come back, we have to handle criminal matters first because people's liberty is at stake,” St. Louis attorney Sid Chase said. “Money matters can be handled secondly.”
According to media reports, Judge McGraugh based his decision on Missouri Supreme Court guidelines for reopening courts during the coronavirus pandemic.
“They want to make sure people are pretty much vaccinated and that the pandemic is over,” Chase told the St. Louis Record.
As of March 16, some 1.8 million Missouri residents have been vaccinated, representing 19.5% of the population statewide, according to Missouri’s vaccination dashboard.
The St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, the City of St. Louis, and the County of St. Louis sued the Rams and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke alleging that they failed to comply with relocation rules established by the NFL when they fled to Los Angeles, leaving St. Louis city and county officials holding the financial bag.
“Somebody may want to bring in another team and there may be a deal under the table,” Chase said. “Or they may feel that that the Rams are not providing enough money to the community. They may feel the stadium is getting inadequate use or someone may hate the Rams. There may be any one of a number of reasons that the Rams left St. Louis.”
The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis City in the 22nd Judicial Circuit.
ABC News reported that if unjust enrichment is proven, St. Louis could be awarded $2 billion, which is the gap between the value of the Rams presently and its value five years ago while located in Missouri.
“It will all come down to money,” Chase said. “And if they have to wait a few months more, the attorneys don't care. There will be a settlement negotiated and if there isn’t, it will be tried. The courts look at it as money. A fan of the Rams may not like that but that’s the truth of it.”
Robert Haar, a lawyer for Kroenke and the Rams, did not immediately respond to requests for comment but he did say last week that he was concerned about finding jurors who are objective and not biased, according to the Star Tribune.
“He's trying this case in the papers,” Chase added. “He's saying ‘There may be difficulty getting a fair trial and maybe we should go to Detroit, San Francisco, or Texas.’ Right now, he doesn’t have a right to move the trial out of state but maybe he's trying to create one. Maybe he's just using it as a negotiating ploy. He might be using anything to get this case disposed of.”