A court hearing is likely in a long running Sunshine Law legal tussle between St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's office and a journalist who wants records on correspondence linked to an investigation into former Gov. Eric Greitens.
Gardner's office has appealed a ruling by St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Christopher McGraugh that records relating to the 2018 investigation be released, at least in part.
Washington D.C.-based journalist John Solomon first filed the records request in mid-2019, claiming that there was correspondence between Gardner's office and various individuals, including the billionaire investor, philanthropist and political donor George Soros and two former state representatives
Greitens faced felony charges over claims he threatened to release compromising images of a woman. He also faced impeachment but resigned from office in June 2018. The charges were dropped.
After what Solomon claimed was months of stalling, he filed suit in January 2020, with help from the Freedom Center of Missouri.
Dave Roland, the center's director of litigation, claims that "over the intervening nine months the Circuit Attorney had four concrete, unambiguous deadlines by which the office was required to file documents with the court… and the office ignored every single one."
Judge McGraugh, in July 2020, entered a default judgment in Solomon's favor, stating that Gardner’s failure to answer the lawsuit had been a “reckless, dilatory, and intentional refusal to timely file a responsive pleading” to the lawsuit.
Gardner appealed, asking the Missouri Court of Appeals to nullify the judgment.
“The Circuit Attorney’s appeal is entirely without merit,” said Roland. “The law says that to undo a default judgment the defendant has to show that it had ‘good cause’ for failing to answer the lawsuit—some specific mistake or oversight that led to the default.
"But, as the trial judge noted, the record shows that the office made a deliberate, considered choice not to file its answer on time.”
Both parties want an oral hearing before the Court of Appeals, but it is not yet known when that will be scheduled, Roland said.
A spokesperson for the circuit attorney told Fox News in October that the office is reviewing and complying with records requests on a regular basis. This case is just one of many they are dealing with and doing the best to answer, the spokesperson said.
Gardner is separately facing a disciplinary hearing, denying claims she concealed evidence during an investigation into the activiities of former governor Greitens,
A tribunal hearing will be held into the claims after the state's chief disciplinary counsel, which investigates alleged misconduct by attorneys, found there was "probable cause" and prepared "information" to take further action against Gardner.
Gardner is accused of concealing details of the Greitens' investigation from her own officials, failing to disclose facts to the governor's legal team, and misrepresenting evidence to a court of law.