The top prosecutor in St. Louis, Missouri, “has lost the trust of the people and left crime victims in the dark,” says Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, adding ammunition to a court case that seeks to remove Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from her elected position.
Double Amputation Sparked Case
Bailey filed the action last month following a public outcry over the tragic case of Janae Edmondson. That visiting teen athlete lost both of her legs in a traffic crash.The accused motorist, Daniel Riley, is a repeat probation violator who shouldn’t have been on the loose at the time, Bailey and other critics say. They blame Gardner for lax enforcement in numerous cases, including Riley’s. Edmondson was released from a St. Louis hospital earlier this month and continues rehabilitation in her home state of Tennessee.
Gardner has expressed sympathy for the Edmondsons but she says what happened isn’t her fault. Gardner said she tried to get Riley locked up for his alleged violations, but judges refused or ignored those requests.
The prosecutor, a Democrat, dismissed the attempt to oust her as “a political stunt” by an unelected Republican attorney general. Bailey was appointed to the office late last year after the former attorney general, Eric Schmitt, was elected to the U.S. Senate.
However, in the controversy over Janae’s injuries, even fellow Democrats have been critical of Gardner.
‘Drowning in Drugs’
According to Bailey’s data, Gardner’s inaction has resulted in nearly 12,000 criminal cases being dismissed, “endlessly frustrating courts and victims desperate for justice.”Police are “drowning in drugs” seized in cases that have languished, Bailey wrote.
In addition, during the past year, Gardner’s office has allowed arrest-warrant applications to sit “unprocessed for more than eight months,” he said.
Further, Bailey accuses Gardner of consenting to “extraordinary bond reductions,” failing to seek revocations for suspects charged with serious and violent crimes.
All the while, victims of crimes have not been updated about the status of cases against their alleged perpetrators, he said. Gardner“ failed to honor the Missouri constitutional rights of victims to speedy dispositions, causing them to suffer prolonged grief while they wait years for a chance for justice,” Bailey said in a news release emailed to The Epoch Times.
Many of the office’s woes stem from Gardner’s alleged mismanagement, Bailey said, and a mass exodus of assistant prosecutors.
During 2017-2020, at least 85 assistant circuit attorneys left the office voluntarily or were fired. Bailey called this “an extraordinary level of turnover caused by the toxic and dysfunctional work environment” that Gardner allegedly created.
‘Shocking’ Evidence
“This is about protecting the people of the city of St. Louis, restoring the rule of law, and finding justice for victims. We brought this suit to remove a prosecutor who has refused to perform her duties to the people of St. Louis,” Bailey said in the release. “The evidence is shocking and deeply disturbing, and we remain committed to removing Circuit Attorney Gardner from office.”Gardner, a former member of the Missouri House of Representatives, has held her elected office as a prosecutor since 2017.
Reprimanded Previously
Gardner has been involved in several controversies during her tenure.
The judge stated it was inappropriate for Gardner to use the McCloskey case in campaign fundraising materials.
Last year, Gardner avoided removal from office after admitting she mistakenly failed to provide all records to defense lawyers in a criminal case. The state Supreme Court reprimanded Gardner and fined her $750 for her errors in that case.
A month ago, the state’s highest court appointed a visiting judge to consider Bailey’s attempt seeking to eject Gardner from office. No hearing date has been set.
