The Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals denied an emergency writ of prohibition this week filed by the NFL that would have ordered a lower court judge to transfer the case to a county outside of the St. Louis metropolitan region.
“If they want to go to the Missouri Supreme Court, they can do that and they could even try the U.S. Supreme Court," said Randy Karraker, 101 ESPN Radio morning host. "They've tried that for the arbitration aspect of this case but they lost when they went to the Missouri Supreme Court. They also tried to go to the U.S. Supreme Court but they wouldn’t even hear it.”
The Rams Football Company, the NFL, and Stan Kroenke sued St. Louis City Circuit Judge Christopher McGraugh in an attempt to avoid a trial that is set to begin in St. Louis on January 10.
“Relaters have filed a petition for a writ of prohibition along with suggestions in support and exhibits,” Robert M. Clayton, presiding judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District, wrote in his Nov. 2 decision. “Respondent has filed suggestions in opposition to relator's petition for writ of prohibition. Relaters have filed suggestions and replied in further support of their petition for a writ of prohibition along with exhibits. Respondent has filed a serve reply in opposition to relator's petition for writ of prohibition being duly advised in the premises, the court hereby denies relaters petition for a writ of prohibition.”
The NFL was appealing McGraugh’s denial of a change of venue last month in litigation that alleges the NFL failed to comply with relocation rules when the Rams left for Los Angeles.
“The league is in a mode now where they feel like they have to get this taken out of St. Louis because they know that if they're in the St. Louis Metro area, they're going to have to find a jury that will be impartial and that doesn't know about what happened with the Rams and Stan Kroenke,” Karraker told the St. Louis Record. “They can do that but I don't know that it's going to be that easy.”
As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority, the City of St. Louis, and the County of St. Louis sued the Los Angeles Rams and Rams owner Kroenke in 2017 for leaving St. Louis city and county officials on the hook financially for a new stadium that was never built.
“Unless the league files another appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court what's going to happen is that both sides will work full steam ahead towards the trial on the 10th of January,” Karraker added. “At this point, it doesn't appear that there's anything that would stop that short of a settlement, and from what I understand, the most recent thing I've heard is that the league hasn't even approached St. Louis about the possibility of a settlement.”