News

N.C. Court of Appeals convenes at Historic Courthouse

Judges Linda McGee, Robert C. Hunter and Sanford L. Steelman Jr. answered questions from students and talked about the state's court system.

By Bill Moss, Published: October 17, 2014

Three North Carolina appeals court judges looked out at the audience at the Historic Courthouse on Monday and noticed one thing was different. The crowd was much bigger than usual for an appeals court hearing. About 90 people were seated in the seats in the assembly room of the Historic Courthouse, which went back to its roots as a courtroom.

A few members of the Henderson County Bar, County Commissioners Michael Edney, who is also an attorney, and Tommy Thompson, who served as Clerk of Superior Court, joined students from Hendersonville and East Henderson high schools as the three-judge panel convened a session of court to hear two appeals. An appeals court session in Hendersonville is not unprecedented — a panel met here about five years ago — but Monday's publicly announced court hearing following a luncheon in the Community Room next door has not happened in recent memory, said county Bar President Anderson Ellis.

Judges Linda M. McGee, Robert C. Hunter and Sanford L. Steelman Jr. made up the panel. The two cases on the docket involved plaintiffs who lost money from a land sale and are appealing a dismissal of their case by a trial judge and one involving a bond that the town of Black Mountain is trying to collect from a failed development called "The Settings of Black Mountain." In the second case, the defendant, Lexon Insurance Co., is the same company Henderson County successfully sued to force payment of a $6 million bond covering the failed Seven Falls development.

Each case has two parties, and each party is given 30 minutes to argue. The court session was expected to run until approximately 4 p.m.

"We're very excited that the Court has accepted our invitation to visit Hendersonville," Ellis said in announcing the session. "This is a terrific opportunity for the residents and students of Hendersonville to experience first-hand one of the higher levels of our state judicial branch. We hope that everyone will take advantage of the visit to become familiar with how our appeals court works."
In North Carolina, civil and criminal cases first go to trial in the District and Superior Courts, which are conducted in each county in the state. If a case is appealed from these courts, unless it is a murder case in which the death penalty is given, it is heard by the Court of Appeals. The Court reviews cases for errors of law and legal procedure. Its 15 judges are elected to eight-year terms.