As Soros-Backed Prosecutor Fights Attempt to Oust Her, Judge Sets Separate Contempt Hearing

Accusations of mismanagement and chaos are piling up against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.

Gardner appeared in court on April 18, the first hearing in Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s attempt to remove her from office. Gardner’s lawyers are seeking dismissal of that case.

Bailey asserts she neglected her duties by failing to properly staff her office and allowing thousands of criminal cases to languish. Gardner’s lawyers counter that Bailey never even alleges she committed any “intentional” acts that would justify her ouster.

Lawyers from Bailey’s office argued that Gardner should be disqualified from holding office because of her alleged pattern of “inaction” and “willful neglect” of her duties.

A day before the hearing, a judge ordered Gardner to “show cause” why she shouldn’t be held in contempt of court for failing to ensure that prosecutors from her office show up for a murder trial on April 17. A hearing in that matter is set for April 24, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The contempt action comes after a judge sanctioned Gardner for failing to turn over evidence in a double murder case earlier this month.

During the hearing in Bailey’s case against Gardner, a representative of judges in St. Louis’ 22nd Circuit Court said: “The circuit attorney’s office is now in a state of near total collapse.” The man, whose name was unclear during a live broadcast of the Gardner hearing, told Visiting Judge John Torbitzky: “An expedited resolution of this matter is very important.”

Torbitzky is expected to decide within a couple of weeks whether to throw out Bailey’s petition against Gardner. He ordered attorneys to file written arguments about the motion to dismiss within a week; Torbitzky said he would decide whether to dismiss the case promptly after that.

If it proceeds, a trial likely would be held in September, based on a scheduling discussion during the hearing.

In his original court filing (pdf) against Gardner, Bailey wrote: “She has sacrificed the safety of the city of St. Louis. She has squandered the goodwill of the courts through misdirection and incompetence. She has turned away grieving families while murderers walk free.”

Action Follows Outcry

But an attorney representing Gardner, Jonathan Sternberg, said Bailey doesn’t have the goods on Gardner.

“This is an attack on the democratic process by someone who was never elected,” Sternberg said, taking a dig at Bailey, who was appointed to his position in January after the former attorney general, Eric Schmitt, became a member of the U.S. Senate. Bailey and Schmitt are Republicans; Gardner is a Democrat.

“Mr. Bailey doesn’t like the job Miss Gardner is doing,” Sternberg said. So the appropriate remedy would be for Bailey to support an opposition candidate in the next election rather than trying to throw her out of office via a court proceeding, Sternberg said.

Such drastic action should be reserved for cases involving intentional acts and corruption, which aren’t alleged in this case, Sternberg said.

Janae Edmondson Case

Bailey filed the action against Gardner last month following a public outcry over the tragic case of Janae Edmondson. That visiting teen athlete, who is from Tennessee, lost both of her legs in a pedestrian-vehicle crash. The driver accused of causing the crash that hurt Janae, is an armed robbery suspect who remained free despite violating his house arrest order dozens of times.