Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Oral Arguments
Dear Students,
Just a reminder that the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals with be conducting oral arguments in our Historic Courtroom next Tuesday, February 3rd. The docket for the day is attached here and includes six cases. There will be three arguments scheduled for the morning session, which will begin at 9:30 a.m., and three arguments scheduled for the afternoon session, which will begin at 1:30 p.m. For each case, each side will be allowed 20 minutes for argument, for a total of 40 minutes per case, and the judges will allow a 15-minute Q & A between students and the attorneys immediately following each case. To ensure that the attorneys are able to present their arguments without undue disruption, the judges have asked that students enter or exit the Courtroom ONLY during the 15 minute Q&A sessions following each case. Accordingly, as each new case will begin on the half-hour, students should plan to enter or exit the courtroom only in the 15 minute periods preceding the half hour. You may attend as many of the arguments as you like.
Four members of the court will visit with on us on February 3rd: Judges John Everett Williams, Alan E. Glenn, Camille R. McMullen and Roger Page. Also, one of the attorneys who will be arguing during the day is our own Tracy Alcock, an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Justice Division of the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General. Ms. Alcock is a 2011 graduate of our Law School. She was active in the moot court program while she was a student here and was a two-year, regional-champion winning, ABA team member. Ms. Alcock may be the first graduate of our Law School to return to the Historic Courtroom where she trained to argue an actual case.
As I mentioned in my original message, this is an extraordinary opportunity to see one of the State’s highest appellate courts in action. I hope as many students as possible will attend.
Thank you.
Dean Peter Letsou
Please note the following update to the schedule from Dean Letsou:
We have a slight change in schedule for tomorrow’s oral arguments at the Law School. The last case on the docket, Detrick Cole v. Tennessee, scheduled for 3:30 pm, will NOT be argued. Accordingly, the court will conclude its session at 3:30 pm, rather than 4:30 pm.
I hope our students will be able to attend as many of tomorrow’s arguments as possible.
