“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,” said Attorney General Bailey. “The evidence is shocking and deeply disturbing, and we remain committed to removing Circuit Attorney Gardner from office.”
The amended petition asserts that Circuit Attorney Gardner has knowingly and willfully failed to do her duties as a prosecutor in many ways, including:
- failed in her duty to review warrant applications, with at least an 8 month backlog. (See page 46 of amended petition).
- caused cases to be dismissed by the Court for failure to prosecute, including because no Assistant Circuit Attorney (ACA) appeared on the morning of trial (See pages 10, 11, 17–26).
- failed in her duty to properly present many cases to the grand jury, receiving much criticism by the grand jury on many occasions. (See pages 84-91).
- engaged in years of costly and wasteful litigation, including suing the City of St Louis, a case which has been pending for four years. (See pages 96-102).
- consented to extraordinary bond reductions, and failed to file motions to revoke bond, involving serious, violent crimes (See pages 35 and 36).
- created a toxic and dysfunctional culture in her office, and assigning violent crime caseloads to her ACAs that are untenable, causing ACAs to have severe burnout, exhaustion and seizures; (See pages 2, 73, 77)
- caused turnover of ACAs in record numbers (See pages 73);
- caused ACAs not to be ready for trial due to their excessive caseloads, and thus, caused them to dismiss cases on the eve of trial (See pages 19-23);
- caused ACAs to commit discovery abuses, resulting in sanctions by the Court (See pages 57-65);
Missouri law says that the rights of victims are “absolute and the policy of this state is that the victim’s rights are paramount . . . .” § 595.209, RSMo. The amended petition asserts that Circuit Attorney Gardner has failed victims, including:
- failed in her duty to keep victims informed and updated on cases (See pages 102-117).
- 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 (See pages 117–119).
Attorney General Bailey’s efforts to collect discovery and prepare for trial are ongoing.