Missouri AG takes legal action to remove St. Louis circuit attorney

(The Center Square) – Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Thursday initiated legal action to remove St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner from office after Bailey gave her a noon deadline to resign.

Bailey filed a petition in the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court. It followed days of criticism of Gardner by Missouri legislators and St. Louis leaders. Gardner received 61% of the vote for the position in the Democratic primary in August 2020 and was re-elected with 74% of the vote in November 2020.

“She’s lost the trust of the people,” St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones said.

Frequent past criticism of Gardner’s office grew to outrage this week as Daniel Riley, a 21-year-old released on bond who had violated house arrest 51 times, sped through downtown on Saturday and crashed into a 17-year-old volleyball player from Tennessee. Janae Edmondson was in St. Louis competing in a tournament and had both legs amputated after she was pinned between cars. Several media outlets reported Thursday she was in serious but stable condition.

Riley was charged with first degree robbery and armed criminal action for stealing a firearm at gunpoint in 2020. The case was dismissed and refiled in July 2022. Riley violated pretrial bond conditions 54 times and another 50 after the case was refiled, according to a release from Bailey’s office.

During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Gardner said Bailey’s actions amounted to voter suppression.

“The attorney general and others have used this unfortunate incident and tragic happening to this young lady as a political stunt of an unelected individual who wants to to use politics to stop the voice of the people in the City of St. Louis,” Gardner said. “This is nothing more than voter suppression, which we’ve seen on a national level as well as in the state of Missouri.”

St. Louis business leaders said ongoing failures of Gardner’s office require immediate action.

“While this tragedy may serve as a turning point in the efforts to strengthen public safety, it only highlights the lingering issues that have gone unaddressed for far too long,” Jason Hall, chief executive officer of Greater St. Louis, Inc., said in a statement. “The ongoing failures of the circuit attorney’s office – with regard to the individual involved in this case as well as a litany of other cases that have not been brought to justice – are unforgivable.”

Jones, Gardner and newly-elected Board of Aldermen President Megan Green, all Democrats, embraced new and progressive approaches to solve crime in the city.

“My office recognizes that in order to build a more just criminal justice system, we have to have a circuit attorney’s office that is working effectively and at full capacity with the trust of residents in our city,” Green told reporters earlier this week.

Gardner responded on Tuesday to criticism by stating, “It’s unfortunate that there are those who choose to twist the facts to take advantage of this situation for their own selfish motives.”

The statement drew a response from Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St.Louis, who announced a run for a city aldermanic seat.

“I’m disappointed in Circuit Attorney Gardner’s tone-deaf response that focuses more on herself than the young woman whose life has been irrevocably changed,” Aldridge said in a statement.

Gardner’s office responded again on Wednesday with a list of various actions regarding Riley, including a bond of wearing a trackable device and another of a judge dismissing a case against him after prosecutors asked for a continuance.

“On three separate occasions, as recently as last month, my office requested the defendant’s bond be revoked,” Gardner said Thursday. “The court either denied or ignored each of these requests.”

Gardner said criticism of her office’s performance reveals poor knowledge of the criminal justice system.

“While it is true my office could have done more, to say we did nothing is disingenuous and willfully ignorant of the reality of our court system,” Gardner said. “My office cannot force any judge to revoke bond for a defendant. It is particularly frustrating that the willful ignorance has empowered the ongoing harassment of the hard-working men and women in my office.”

The timeline for Bailey’s litigation against Gardner will be controlled by the court, but Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson stated he would work with St. Louis leaders to begin discussions about appointing a replacement for Gardner.

“I’m going to find the most qualified candidate and try to put them in that position and do what they take an oath to do,” Parson told reporters on Thursday. “That’ll be the first priority as we go through that selection process.”