The City of St. Louis Republican Central Committee Bylaws
LETTER TO ELECTED OFFICIALS
FILING FORM - ALDERMAN/WOMAN
FILING FORM - COMPTROLLER
FILING FORM - MAYOR
SIGNATURE PETITION - ALDERMAN
SIGNATURE PETITION - COMPTROLLER
SIGNATURE PETITION - MAYOR
The City of St. Louis Republican Central Committee Bylaws
LETTER TO ELECTED OFFICIALS
FILING FORM - ALDERMAN/WOMAN
FILING FORM - COMPTROLLER
FILING FORM - MAYOR
SIGNATURE PETITION - ALDERMAN
SIGNATURE PETITION - COMPTROLLER
SIGNATURE PETITION - MAYOR
The City of St. Louis Republican Central Committee Bylaws
LETTER TO ELECTED OFFICIALS
FILING FORM - ALDERMAN/WOMAN
FILING FORM - COMPTROLLER
FILING FORM - MAYOR
SIGNATURE PETITION - ALDERMAN
SIGNATURE PETITION - COMPTROLLER
SIGNATURE PETITION - MAYOR
The Republican Party, City of St. Louis extends its deepest thanks to Attorney General Andrew Bailey,
for the awaited report on Kim Gardner.
The Republican Party, City of St. Louis extends its deepest thanks to Attorney General Andrew Bailey,
for the awaited report on Kim Gardner.
The Republican Party, City of St. Louis extends its deepest thanks to
Attorney General Andrew Bailey,
for the awaited report on Kim Gardner.
Read the full report and
executive summary - click here.
News article from KMOV
by Lucas Sellem
Published: Nov. 14, 2023
Read the full report and
executive summary - click here.
News article from KMOV
by Lucas Sellem
Published: Nov. 14, 2023
Read the full report and
executive summary - click here.
News article from KMOV
by Lucas Sellem
Published: Nov. 14, 2023
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Overnight, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey released the ‘Kim Gardner Report,’ detailing his successful petition in quo warranto that ousted Kimberly Gardner from office in May after she failed to prosecute violent crime in the City of St. Louis for several years.
“Kim Gardner hit the eject button and resigned as Circuit Attorney when it became clear that our lawsuit to remove her from office for her refusal to do her job was going to be successful,” said Attorney General Bailey. “My office published the Gardner Report to put into the public domain what went wrong here, how it happened, and what systems need to be put in place to prevent it from ever happening in the future.”
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Overnight, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey released the ‘Kim Gardner Report,’ detailing his successful petition in quo warranto that ousted Kimberly Gardner from office in May after she failed to prosecute violent crime in the City of St. Louis for several years.
“Kim Gardner hit the eject button and resigned as Circuit Attorney when it became clear that our lawsuit to remove her from office for her refusal to do her job was going to be successful,” said Attorney General Bailey. “My office published the Gardner Report to put into the public domain what went wrong here, how it happened, and what systems need to be put in place to prevent it from ever happening in the future.”
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Overnight, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey released the ‘Kim Gardner Report,’ detailing his successful petition in quo warranto that ousted Kimberly Gardner from office in May after she failed to prosecute violent crime in the City of St. Louis for several years.
“Kim Gardner hit the eject button and resigned as Circuit Attorney when it became clear that our lawsuit to remove her from office for her refusal to do her job was going to be successful,” said Attorney General Bailey. “My office published the Gardner Report to put into the public domain what went wrong here, how it happened, and what systems need to be put in place to prevent it from ever happening in the future.”
In the Gardner Report, AG Bailey lists several takeaways from his lawsuit against the former circuit attorney, including:
The Gardner Report lays out a timeline of the quo warranto process, as well as the actions taken by the Attorney General’s Office to restore order to the City of St. Louis once she resigned.
Assistant attorneys general provided assistance including, but not limited to:
In addition, the Gardner Report reveals never-before-released information learned from the victims, assistant circuit attorneys, and judges that the Attorney General’s Office interviewed throughout the discovery process.
First Alert 4 found that, in Gardner’s final 12 weeks, the office averaged 64 criminal cases filed each week. In the last 12 weeks, Gore’s office averaged 100 criminal cases filed each week.
Crime in St. Louis through May 2023 with Kim Gardner in office
Crime numbers through October 2023 with Gabe Gore in office
“The public is entitled to know the mistakes that Kim Gardner made, especially after she tried to deprive the public of access to information by resigning a mere two hours before the Court could order disclosure of several records,” said Attorney General Bailey.
Copyright 2023 KMOV. All rights reserved. https://www.kmov.com/2023/11/14/ag-baileys-kim-gardner-report-released/
In the Gardner Report, AG Bailey lists several takeaways from his lawsuit against the former circuit attorney, including:
The Gardner Report lays out a timeline of the quo warranto process, as well as the actions taken by the Attorney General’s Office to restore order to the City of St. Louis once she resigned.
Assistant attorneys general provided assistance including, but not limited to:
In addition, the Gardner Report reveals never-before-released information learned from the victims, assistant circuit attorneys, and judges that the Attorney General’s Office interviewed throughout the discovery process.
First Alert 4 found that, in Gardner’s final 12 weeks, the office averaged 64 criminal cases filed each week. In the last 12 weeks, Gore’s office averaged 100 criminal cases filed each week.
Crime in St. Louis through May 2023 with Kim Gardner in office
Crime numbers through October 2023 with Gabe Gore in office
“The public is entitled to know the mistakes that Kim Gardner made, especially after she tried to deprive the public of access to information by resigning a mere two hours before the Court could order disclosure of several records,” said Attorney General Bailey.
Copyright 2023 KMOV. All rights reserved. https://www.kmov.com/2023/11/14/ag-baileys-kim-gardner-report-released/
In the Gardner Report, AG Bailey lists several takeaways from his lawsuit against the former circuit attorney, including:
The Gardner Report lays out a timeline of the quo warranto process, as well as the actions taken by the Attorney General’s Office to restore order to the City of St. Louis once she resigned.
Assistant attorneys general provided assistance including, but not limited to:
In addition, the Gardner Report reveals never-before-released information learned from the victims, assistant circuit attorneys, and judges that the Attorney General’s Office interviewed throughout the discovery process.
First Alert 4 found that, in Gardner’s final 12 weeks, the office averaged 64 criminal cases filed each week. In the last 12 weeks, Gore’s office averaged 100 criminal cases filed each week.
Crime in St. Louis through May 2023 with Kim Gardner in office
Crime numbers through October 2023 with Gabe Gore in office
“The public is entitled to know the mistakes that Kim Gardner made, especially after she tried to deprive the public of access to information by resigning a mere two hours before the Court could order disclosure of several records,” said Attorney General Bailey.
Copyright 2023 KMOV. All rights reserved. https://www.kmov.com/2023/11/14/ag-baileys-kim-gardner-report-released/
News article from KSDK
by Christine Byers (KSDK)
Published: Nov. 14, 2023
'The evidence was so overwhelming': Missouri AG releases final report in investigation against Kim Gardner
News article from KSDK
by Christine Byers (KSDK)
Published: Nov. 14, 2023
'The evidence was so overwhelming': Missouri AG releases final report in investigation against Kim Gardner
News article from KSDK
by Christine Byers (KSDK)
Published: Nov. 14, 2023
'The evidence was so overwhelming': Missouri AG releases final report in investigation against Kim Gardner
Andrew Bailey is calling for tougher laws on holding public officials accountable and changes to Victims' Rights Act.
Andrew Bailey is calling for tougher laws on holding public officials accountable and changes to Victims' Rights Act.
Andrew Bailey is calling for tougher laws on holding public officials accountable and changes to Victims' Rights Act.
ST. LOUIS — 25,000 cases dismissed.
2,735 cases dismissed by judges for failure to prosecute.
$351,500 in taxpayer money paid to an unlicensed attorney providing legal advice.
Countless violations of the Crime Victims' Rights Act.
A resignation just hours before a judge was to order potentially damaging records be turned over and a deposition be scheduled.
All are among the findings in a 62-page report Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey released to the I-Team Monday. It summarizes what his office found within the tens of thousands of documents, interviews with almost 40 witnesses and investigation into St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her administration.
It was all part of a lawsuit he filed earlier this year to remove her from office.
“It was important for us to publish the Gardner Report to put into the public domain what went wrong here, how it happened, and what systems need to be put in place to prevent it from ever happening in the future,” Bailey said. “The public is entitled to know the mistakes that she made, and she tried to deprive the public of access to that information by resigning before the court could order disclosure of several of those records.”
In his report, Bailey calls on the legislature to beef up the quo warranto process as it's known, put “teeth” behind the law that states public officials must devote all of their time to the duties of their office and amend the Victims' Rights Act.
The report also shines new light on the abrupt timing of Gardner’s resignation in May, showing a judge was about to rule on whether Bailey could schedule Gardner for a deposition as well as get records from Saint Louis University showing how often Gardner was taking nursing classes there instead of fulfilling her duties as the city’s top prosecutor.
“It’s proof positive that there's a lot of smoke there for there not to be any fire,” Bailey said.
But do any of the findings mean Gardner will be held accountable for her actions?
Bailey said it’s still possible, and he’s still seeking thousands of pages in records from the city that Gardner refused to turn over as part of subpoenas.
“I think that that's going be up to the judiciary to decide whether her licensure is at risk,” Bailey said. “But I also think that when you have a prosecutor that conducts behavior or conducts activities that are outside of the scope of their statutory authority, they run into a potential waiver of sovereign immunity.
“So there could be a civil suit if somebody can establish damages based on that. And certainly, if she is stealing from the public coffers, that's something that attaches criminal liability as well.”
The I-Team contacted Gardner late Monday and is waiting for a response.
Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick is also investigating records from Gardner’s time in office.
What the Report Says
Bailey filed his lawsuit, also known as a quo warranto, to remove Gardner from office weeks after a 17-year-old girl in town for a volleyball tournament was struck by an allegedly speeding driver.
The I-Team first reported that driver, Daniel Riley, was supposed to go to trial for an alleged armed robbery months before that crash, but didn’t, because Gardner’s office was not ready to go to trial.
Charges were refiled. Riley was put on house arrest without objection from Gardner’s office. And he violated that house arrest multiple times without anyone from Gardner’s office asking a judge to put him in jail.
Janae Edmondson lost both of her legs as a result of the crash.
“It never should have happened,” Bailey said.
The quo warranto proceeding Bailey then initiated to remove Gardner from office has been used less than 10 times in history.
“The internal workings of the office were completely dysfunctional, her absence, her misdirection, her attack on her own staff had caused a decay in morale and operations to the point that the criminal justice system just wasn't functioning anymore,” Bailey said.
A team of seven attorneys reviewed more than 25,000 documents from subpoenas Bailey’s office sent to the city, as well as interviewed several key officials including the city’s budget director and comptroller.
Retired Judge Bill Corrigan was the deputy attorney general Bailey had appointed to serve as the lead prosecutor on the case.
“I believe the evidence was so overwhelming, there is no doubt that we would have won this case,” Corrigan said.
He said he’s also glad it never went to trial.
“I think it's in the public's interest that she resigned,” he said. “I think it's a good thing for our community that we didn't have to go through a trial, that the public didn't have to have to listen to a parade of victims whose families were either murdered or seriously injured.
“A parade of people talking about how they weren't protected or their families weren’t protected. Or judges to come and testify about the fact that cases were dismissed on the eve of trial because they weren't ready or there were discovery abuses that took place and orders had to be entered, and that former lawyers in the office didn't have to come testify or law enforcement.”
Here are some of the key dates highlighted in the report:
April 27
Ms. Gardner spent the entire morning, and part of the afternoon, until 12:44 p.m., at Family Care Health Centers performing her clinicals (or practicum) to meet the criteria to obtain her master’s in nursing degree from Saint Louis University. An investigator for the Attorney General’s Office saw Ms. Gardner at the clinic.
At 1:30 p.m., Judge Michael Noble conducted a show cause hearing in which Gardner failed to appear. He scheduled the hearing after one of her assistant prosecutors failed to show up for a hearing on a separate case and announced he was considering holding Gardner and her assistant in contempt. Noble concluded there was probable cause to believe that Gardner and her assistant prosecutor were guilty of indirect criminal contempt. He set an evidentiary hearing for May 30, 2023, and declared Gardner’s office appeared to be a “rudderless ship of chaos.”
April 28
Despite findings by Noble, Gardner returned to Family Care Health Centers. Again, an investigator for the Attorney General’s Office witnessed Gardner at the clinic.
By the end of April, Bailey’s office interviewed nearly 40 witnesses.
May 15
The AGO took the videotaped deposition of St. Louis Deputy Comptroller Beverly Fitzsimmons, who testified that Gardner had initiated and maintained a contract with Maurice Foxworth for $5,000 per month without oversight from the City of St. Louis or the Comptroller’s Office. Fitzsimmons also agreed that Maurice Foxworth had received payments from the Circuit Attorney’s Office totaling at least $351,500 since 2017. Bailey said Foxworth is not a licensed attorney.
May 16
A hearing was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., in which a judge was going to rule on whether the Attorney General’s Office could get documents from the nursing school and the clinic and schedule a video deposition of Gardner. However, two hours before the hearing, at 11:31 a.m., Gardner sent an email to Gov. Michael Parson to inform him that she was resigning from office “effective today.”
“Then, apparently realizing that any delay in her resignation would permit further action in the quo warranto proceedings — including disclosure of the nursing school records she was seeking to conceal— 16 minutes later, at 11:47 a.m., Gardner sent a second email to Parson, stating that her resignation was ‘effective immediately,’” according to the report.
Ms. Gardner then moved to dismiss the petition in quo warranto as moot.
Key findings:
What the judges said:
What former and current employees said:
What police officers said:
Partnership with Vera Institute:
“To remedy this practice, based on Vera’s review and recommendations, CAO dismissed approximately 25,000 pending TUA cases…” Sadly, this drive to create “resolution” for those arrested had no corollary in finding such resolution for the actual victims of their crimes, thousands of whom saw the cases against their victimizers dismissed by the CAO.
Recommendations:
The AG’s report cited 5 On Your Side’s coverage of the Lamont Cambell case, in which a murder victim’s family did not know his conviction was being overturned due to ineffective counsel until after the hearings had taken place. Gardner’s then Chief Trial Assistant Marvin Teer argued before a judge in January that prosecutors needed more time to decide on a trial date, then, within 10 minutes, notified the court that prosecutors were dropping the case altogether. Campbell walked out of prison that day after serving seven years behind bars.
“Given the potential harm to victims when they are not kept informed of important events related to their cases, the General Assembly should address this issue by amending the Victims' Rights Act to extend victim’s rights to post-conviction relief proceedings,” according to the report.
“There needs to be an action that can be taken when you've got public officials who are refusing to do their job because they're pursuing other endeavors on company time, on public time, that there need to be teeth behind those statutes to hold those wrongdoers accountable,” Bailey said.
© 2023 KSDK-TV. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/missouri-attorney-general-releases-final-report-on-st-louis-circuit-attorney-kim-gardner-investigation/63-d06ed36b-58dd-4a76-ab7a-41270a226faf
ST. LOUIS — 25,000 cases dismissed.
2,735 cases dismissed by judges for failure to prosecute.
$351,500 in taxpayer money paid to an unlicensed attorney providing legal advice.
Countless violations of the Crime Victims' Rights Act.
A resignation just hours before a judge was to order potentially damaging records be turned over and a deposition be scheduled.
All are among the findings in a 62-page report Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey released to the I-Team Monday. It summarizes what his office found within the tens of thousands of documents, interviews with almost 40 witnesses and investigation into St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her administration.
It was all part of a lawsuit he filed earlier this year to remove her from office.
“It was important for us to publish the Gardner Report to put into the public domain what went wrong here, how it happened, and what systems need to be put in place to prevent it from ever happening in the future,” Bailey said. “The public is entitled to know the mistakes that she made, and she tried to deprive the public of access to that information by resigning before the court could order disclosure of several of those records.”
In his report, Bailey calls on the legislature to beef up the quo warranto process as it's known, put “teeth” behind the law that states public officials must devote all of their time to the duties of their office and amend the Victims' Rights Act.
The report also shines new light on the abrupt timing of Gardner’s resignation in May, showing a judge was about to rule on whether Bailey could schedule Gardner for a deposition as well as get records from Saint Louis University showing how often Gardner was taking nursing classes there instead of fulfilling her duties as the city’s top prosecutor.
“It’s proof positive that there's a lot of smoke there for there not to be any fire,” Bailey said.
But do any of the findings mean Gardner will be held accountable for her actions?
Bailey said it’s still possible, and he’s still seeking thousands of pages in records from the city that Gardner refused to turn over as part of subpoenas.
“I think that that's going be up to the judiciary to decide whether her licensure is at risk,” Bailey said. “But I also think that when you have a prosecutor that conducts behavior or conducts activities that are outside of the scope of their statutory authority, they run into a potential waiver of sovereign immunity.
“So there could be a civil suit if somebody can establish damages based on that. And certainly, if she is stealing from the public coffers, that's something that attaches criminal liability as well.”
The I-Team contacted Gardner late Monday and is waiting for a response.
Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick is also investigating records from Gardner’s time in office.
What the Report Says
Bailey filed his lawsuit, also known as a quo warranto, to remove Gardner from office weeks after a 17-year-old girl in town for a volleyball tournament was struck by an allegedly speeding driver.
The I-Team first reported that driver, Daniel Riley, was supposed to go to trial for an alleged armed robbery months before that crash, but didn’t, because Gardner’s office was not ready to go to trial.
Charges were refiled. Riley was put on house arrest without objection from Gardner’s office. And he violated that house arrest multiple times without anyone from Gardner’s office asking a judge to put him in jail.
Janae Edmondson lost both of her legs as a result of the crash.
“It never should have happened,” Bailey said.
The quo warranto proceeding Bailey then initiated to remove Gardner from office has been used less than 10 times in history.
“The internal workings of the office were completely dysfunctional, her absence, her misdirection, her attack on her own staff had caused a decay in morale and operations to the point that the criminal justice system just wasn't functioning anymore,” Bailey said.
A team of seven attorneys reviewed more than 25,000 documents from subpoenas Bailey’s office sent to the city, as well as interviewed several key officials including the city’s budget director and comptroller.
Retired Judge Bill Corrigan was the deputy attorney general Bailey had appointed to serve as the lead prosecutor on the case.
“I believe the evidence was so overwhelming, there is no doubt that we would have won this case,” Corrigan said.
He said he’s also glad it never went to trial.
“I think it's in the public's interest that she resigned,” he said. “I think it's a good thing for our community that we didn't have to go through a trial, that the public didn't have to have to listen to a parade of victims whose families were either murdered or seriously injured.
“A parade of people talking about how they weren't protected or their families weren’t protected. Or judges to come and testify about the fact that cases were dismissed on the eve of trial because they weren't ready or there were discovery abuses that took place and orders had to be entered, and that former lawyers in the office didn't have to come testify or law enforcement.”
Here are some of the key dates highlighted in the report:
April 27
Ms. Gardner spent the entire morning, and part of the afternoon, until 12:44 p.m., at Family Care Health Centers performing her clinicals (or practicum) to meet the criteria to obtain her master’s in nursing degree from Saint Louis University. An investigator for the Attorney General’s Office saw Ms. Gardner at the clinic.
At 1:30 p.m., Judge Michael Noble conducted a show cause hearing in which Gardner failed to appear. He scheduled the hearing after one of her assistant prosecutors failed to show up for a hearing on a separate case and announced he was considering holding Gardner and her assistant in contempt. Noble concluded there was probable cause to believe that Gardner and her assistant prosecutor were guilty of indirect criminal contempt. He set an evidentiary hearing for May 30, 2023, and declared Gardner’s office appeared to be a “rudderless ship of chaos.”
April 28
Despite findings by Noble, Gardner returned to Family Care Health Centers. Again, an investigator for the Attorney General’s Office witnessed Gardner at the clinic.
By the end of April, Bailey’s office interviewed nearly 40 witnesses.
May 15
The AGO took the videotaped deposition of St. Louis Deputy Comptroller Beverly Fitzsimmons, who testified that Gardner had initiated and maintained a contract with Maurice Foxworth for $5,000 per month without oversight from the City of St. Louis or the Comptroller’s Office. Fitzsimmons also agreed that Maurice Foxworth had received payments from the Circuit Attorney’s Office totaling at least $351,500 since 2017. Bailey said Foxworth is not a licensed attorney.
May 16
A hearing was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., in which a judge was going to rule on whether the Attorney General’s Office could get documents from the nursing school and the clinic and schedule a video deposition of Gardner. However, two hours before the hearing, at 11:31 a.m., Gardner sent an email to Gov. Michael Parson to inform him that she was resigning from office “effective today.”
“Then, apparently realizing that any delay in her resignation would permit further action in the quo warranto proceedings — including disclosure of the nursing school records she was seeking to conceal— 16 minutes later, at 11:47 a.m., Gardner sent a second email to Parson, stating that her resignation was ‘effective immediately,’” according to the report.
Ms. Gardner then moved to dismiss the petition in quo warranto as moot.
Key findings:
What the judges said:
What former and current employees said:
What police officers said:
Partnership with Vera Institute:
“To remedy this practice, based on Vera’s review and recommendations, CAO dismissed approximately 25,000 pending TUA cases…” Sadly, this drive to create “resolution” for those arrested had no corollary in finding such resolution for the actual victims of their crimes, thousands of whom saw the cases against their victimizers dismissed by the CAO.
Recommendations:
The AG’s report cited 5 On Your Side’s coverage of the Lamont Cambell case, in which a murder victim’s family did not know his conviction was being overturned due to ineffective counsel until after the hearings had taken place. Gardner’s then Chief Trial Assistant Marvin Teer argued before a judge in January that prosecutors needed more time to decide on a trial date, then, within 10 minutes, notified the court that prosecutors were dropping the case altogether. Campbell walked out of prison that day after serving seven years behind bars.
“Given the potential harm to victims when they are not kept informed of important events related to their cases, the General Assembly should address this issue by amending the Victims' Rights Act to extend victim’s rights to post-conviction relief proceedings,” according to the report.
“There needs to be an action that can be taken when you've got public officials who are refusing to do their job because they're pursuing other endeavors on company time, on public time, that there need to be teeth behind those statutes to hold those wrongdoers accountable,” Bailey said.
© 2023 KSDK-TV. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/investigations/missouri-attorney-general-releases-final-report-on-st-louis-circuit-attorney-kim-gardner-investigation/63-d06ed36b-58dd-4a76-ab7a-41270a226faf
ST. LOUIS — 25,000 cases dismissed.
2,735 cases dismissed by judges for failure to prosecute.
$351,500 in taxpayer money paid to an unlicensed attorney providing legal advice.
Countless violations of the Crime Victims' Rights Act.
A resignation just hours before a judge was to order potentially damaging records be turned over and a deposition be scheduled.
All are among the findings in a 62-page report Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey released to the I-Team Monday. It summarizes what his office found within the tens of thousands of documents, interviews with almost 40 witnesses and investigation into St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her administration.
It was all part of a lawsuit he filed earlier this year to remove her from office.
“It was important for us to publish the Gardner Report to put into the public domain what went wrong here, how it happened, and what systems need to be put in place to prevent it from ever happening in the future,” Bailey said. “The public is entitled to know the mistakes that she made, and she tried to deprive the public of access to that information by resigning before the court could order disclosure of several of those records.”
In his report, Bailey calls on the legislature to beef up the quo warranto process as it's known, put “teeth” behind the law that states public officials must devote all of their time to the duties of their office and amend the Victims' Rights Act.
The report also shines new light on the abrupt timing of Gardner’s resignation in May, showing a judge was about to rule on whether Bailey could schedule Gardner for a deposition as well as get records from Saint Louis University showing how often Gardner was taking nursing classes there instead of fulfilling her duties as the city’s top prosecutor.
“It’s proof positive that there's a lot of smoke there for there not to be any fire,” Bailey said.
But do any of the findings mean Gardner will be held accountable for her actions?
Bailey said it’s still possible, and he’s still seeking thousands of pages in records from the city that Gardner refused to turn over as part of subpoenas.
“I think that that's going be up to the judiciary to decide whether her licensure is at risk,” Bailey said. “But I also think that when you have a prosecutor that conducts behavior or conducts activities that are outside of the scope of their statutory authority, they run into a potential waiver of sovereign immunity.
“So there could be a civil suit if somebody can establish damages based on that. And certainly, if she is stealing from the public coffers, that's something that attaches criminal liability as well.”
The I-Team contacted Gardner late Monday and is waiting for a response.
Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick is also investigating records from Gardner’s time in office.
What the Report Says
Bailey filed his lawsuit, also known as a quo warranto, to remove Gardner from office weeks after a 17-year-old girl in town for a volleyball tournament was struck by an allegedly speeding driver.
The I-Team first reported that driver, Daniel Riley, was supposed to go to trial for an alleged armed robbery months before that crash, but didn’t, because Gardner’s office was not ready to go to trial.
Charges were refiled. Riley was put on house arrest without objection from Gardner’s office. And he violated that house arrest multiple times without anyone from Gardner’s office asking a judge to put him in jail.
Janae Edmondson lost both of her legs as a result of the crash.
“It never should have happened,” Bailey said.
The quo warranto proceeding Bailey then initiated to remove Gardner from office has been used less than 10 times in history.
“The internal workings of the office were completely dysfunctional, her absence, her misdirection, her attack on her own staff had caused a decay in morale and operations to the point that the criminal justice system just wasn't functioning anymore,” Bailey said.
A team of seven attorneys reviewed more than 25,000 documents from subpoenas Bailey’s office sent to the city, as well as interviewed several key officials including the city’s budget director and comptroller.
Retired Judge Bill Corrigan was the deputy attorney general Bailey had appointed to serve as the lead prosecutor on the case.
“I believe the evidence was so overwhelming, there is no doubt that we would have won this case,” Corrigan said.
He said he’s also glad it never went to trial.
“I think it's in the public's interest that she resigned,” he said. “I think it's a good thing for our community that we didn't have to go through a trial, that the public didn't have to have to listen to a parade of victims whose families were either murdered or seriously injured.
“A parade of people talking about how they weren't protected or their families weren’t protected. Or judges to come and testify about the fact that cases were dismissed on the eve of trial because they weren't ready or there were discovery abuses that took place and orders had to be entered, and that former lawyers in the office didn't have to come testify or law enforcement.”
Here are some of the key dates highlighted in the report:
April 27
Ms. Gardner spent the entire morning, and part of the afternoon, until 12:44 p.m., at Family Care Health Centers performing her clinicals (or practicum) to meet the criteria to obtain her master’s in nursing degree from Saint Louis University. An investigator for the Attorney General’s Office saw Ms. Gardner at the clinic.
At 1:30 p.m., Judge Michael Noble conducted a show cause hearing in which Gardner failed to appear. He scheduled the hearing after one of her assistant prosecutors failed to show up for a hearing on a separate case and announced he was considering holding Gardner and her assistant in contempt. Noble concluded there was probable cause to believe that Gardner and her assistant prosecutor were guilty of indirect criminal contempt. He set an evidentiary hearing for May 30, 2023, and declared Gardner’s office appeared to be a “rudderless ship of chaos.”
April 28
Despite findings by Noble, Gardner returned to Family Care Health Centers. Again, an investigator for the Attorney General’s Office witnessed Gardner at the clinic.
By the end of April, Bailey’s office interviewed nearly 40 witnesses.
May 15
The AGO took the videotaped deposition of St. Louis Deputy Comptroller Beverly Fitzsimmons, who testified that Gardner had initiated and maintained a contract with Maurice Foxworth for $5,000 per month without oversight from the City of St. Louis or the Comptroller’s Office. Fitzsimmons also agreed that Maurice Foxworth had received payments from the Circuit Attorney’s Office totaling at least $351,500 since 2017. Bailey said Foxworth is not a licensed attorney.
May 16
A hearing was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., in which a judge was going to rule on whether the Attorney General’s Office could get documents from the nursing school and the clinic and schedule a video deposition of Gardner. However, two hours before the hearing, at 11:31 a.m., Gardner sent an email to Gov. Michael Parson to inform him that she was resigning from office “effective today.”
“Then, apparently realizing that any delay in her resignation would permit further action in the quo warranto proceedings — including disclosure of the nursing school records she was seeking to conceal— 16 minutes later, at 11:47 a.m., Gardner sent a second email to Parson, stating that her resignation was ‘effective immediately,’” according to the report.
Ms. Gardner then moved to dismiss the petition in quo warranto as moot.
Key findings:
What the judges said:
What former and current employees said:
What police officers said:
Partnership with Vera Institute:
“To remedy this practice, based on Vera’s review and recommendations, CAO dismissed approximately 25,000 pending TUA cases…” Sadly, this drive to create “resolution” for those arrested had no corollary in finding such resolution for the actual victims of their crimes, thousands of whom saw the cases against their victimizers dismissed by the CAO.
Recommendations:
The AG’s report cited 5 On Your Side’s coverage of the Lamont Cambell case, in which a murder victim’s family did not know his conviction was being overturned due to ineffective counsel until after the hearings had taken place. Gardner’s then Chief Trial Assistant Marvin Teer argued before a judge in January that prosecutors needed more time to decide on a trial date, then, within 10 minutes, notified the court that prosecutors were dropping the case altogether. Campbell walked out of prison that day after serving seven years behind bars.
“Given the potential harm to victims when they are not kept informed of important events related to their cases, the General Assembly should address this issue by amending the Victims' Rights Act to extend victim’s rights to post-conviction relief proceedings,” according to the report.
“There needs to be an action that can be taken when you've got public officials who are refusing to do their job because they're pursuing other endeavors on company time, on public time, that there need to be teeth behind those statutes to hold those wrongdoers accountable,” Bailey said.
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