Trial date set in Cape Girardeau murder case

A Cape Girardeau murder case will go before a panel of Pemiscot County jurors at the courthouse in Jackson in August, Circuit Judge William L. Syler decided Monday.

Ryan Patterson is accused of killing Jamie Lynn Orman, her son Derrick and unborn child Oct. 27. He's charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action and one count of burglary.

Authorities say Patterson shot Orman at the home she shared with her boyfriend, John Lawrence, on Missouri Avenue in Cape Girardeau. Patterson allegedly conspired with Lawrence's estranged wife, Michelle, and Samuel "Ray Ray" Hughes to kill Lawrence and set fire to his home in order to collect insurance money.

Syler said he would have liked to see Patterson's trial begin closer to the beginning of 2011, while Patterson's counsel said it needed time to review more than 4,000 pages of documents from Missouri's Division of Family Services.

"When we received them we didn't know what records came from where," said Robert Steele, one of Patterson's attorneys. "Some came from DFS, some came from the mental health division."

When Syler suggested trial dates in the spring instead of late summer, Steele and David Kenyon, Patterson's other attorney, both said they had separate trials in April and May. A February trial, as Syler first suggested, would not give Kenyon and Steele enough time to prepare, they said.

"It may seem like a long time, judge, but in my experience it's not in any way unusual," Kenyon said.

All parties are set to appear at a hearing July 27 to take up any pretrial matters and on July 28 and 29 will pick a jury in Pemiscot County. Jurors will be bused to Cape Girardeau County on July 31 and Patterson's trial will begin the morning of Aug. 1.

Kenyon said he expects the trial to last five days.

Hughes' four-day trial is set to begin Jan. 18 in Mississippi County. He's charged with three counts of second-degree murder, burglary and attempted arson.

Michelle Lawrence has her next appearance in a Bollinger County courtroom Nov. 19. She's charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit murder. At her April court appearance, Syler denied a motion to reduce her $250,000 bond.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

1224 Missouri Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO