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Cape Co. Prosecutor Morley Swingle To Join U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southeast Missouri State University Press

Cape Girardeau prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle will step down from his post to take a prosecutor position in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, his office announced on Wednesday.

During two and a half decades as Cape Girardeau County’s prosecuting attorney, Swingle prosecuted 133 jury trials, 31 appellate cases and 79 homicide prosecutions, according to a press release.

Now, he’ll move to the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, where he will work for U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan.

Swingle says federal prosecutor positions do not open up often because they pay more than state prosecutor jobs.

“So a person tends to get it and keep it forever. So the fact it opened now was just a now-or-never kind of thing,” Swingle said. “It’s a plus for me that the vacancy is at the branch office here in Cape Girardeau. I don’t have to physically move. I’ll just be moving courthouses.”

Swingle says the U-S Attorney’s Office wants him to start on either November 18 or December 2.

When asked about the difference between state and federal prosecutors, Swingle quoted St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan, who said federal court prosecutors prosecute crimes of greed and state court prosecutors prosecute crimes of passion.

“The state court prosecutor prosecutes murder, rapes and violent crimes like that. The federal prosecutors prosecute big fraud cases, and big drug cases and gun cases and that sort of thing. It’ll be a different type of crime. It will be federal statutes that I’m prosecuting instead of state court statutes,” Swingle said.

The U.S. Attorney’s office will allow Swingle to finish prosecuting the murder trial of Ryan Harkey on December 5. 

He will continue to travel to Washington DC with assistant prosecutor Jack Koester to help him as he prepares for a the U.S. Supreme Court case Missouri v. McNeeley. The Supreme Court case will be heard on January 9.

Governor Jay Nixon will appoint a new prosecutor to fill out Swingle’s remaining term. The next election will be held in 2014.

His First Assistant, Angel Woodruff, will run the prosecutor’s office until the Governor names his replacement.

Swingle has written three books - including two novels - and contributed to many professional books. Swingle says he will continue to write on the weekends. "It's what I do instead of play golf," he said.