State Ex Rel. Caine v. Richardson

SMITH, Presiding Judge.

Relators sought our alternative writ of mandamus to compel the respondent judge to assume jurisdiction over an underlying law suit and to set aside his order dismissing that suit as to Beech Aircraft Corporation. We issued that alternative writ which we now make permanent.

In the underlying litigation, plaintiffs, the children of a man killed in an airplane crash in 1976, seek recovery under the wrongful death statute for their father’s death. They are residents of St. Louis County, as was their father. Named as defendants are (1) the estate of the pilot, David Hoffman;…