The embattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney has rejected demands for her resignation despite the newly appointed Attorney General's lawsuit.
The city’s top prosecutor, Kim Gardner, has been under fire for not imprisoning a man involved in a car crash that injured a 17-year-old athlete who was visiting from Tennessee.
The motorist, Daniel Riley, who hit Janae Edmondson on Feb. 18, allegedly had violated the conditions of his bond on more than one occasion. Edmondson has since had both legs amputated.
Gras
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In a press conference this week, Gardner blamed the court for allegedly rejecting an Aug. 10, 2022 request by her office that Riley be taken into custody for a different offense.
“Over the following months, Mr. Riley left his home multiple times in direct violation of his bond," she said. "In spite of this, the court modified the bond allowing him to leave home for work against the state's objection. Just last month, my office requested a hearing to address Mr. Riley's bond, including numerous violations. The court has yet to respond to that request or schedule that hearing.”
St. Louis Alderman Mike Gras, Attorney General Andrew Bailey, Gov. Mike Parson and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones have all called for Gardner's resignation.
“We don't have the old court file because the case was refiled again in July 2022,” Gras told the St. Louis Record. “Kim Gardner is saying that they asked for these bond revocations and the judge denied them but if she's doing it so informally that it's not even making the court record, then blaming the judge is really misplaced.”
As previously reported in the St. Louis Business Journal, City of St. Louis Judge Bryan Hettenbach reviewed Riley’s GPS monitoring violations in April 2022.
“While it is true my office could have done more, to say we did nothing is not only disingenuous but willfully ignorant of the reality of our court system," Gardner said. "My office cannot force a judge to revoke bond for a defendant.”
Bailey filed a petition in Quo Warranto in the St. Louis City Circuit Court requesting that the court issue a preliminary order immediately removing Gardner.
“Such an order is necessary to maintain order, ensure just enforcement of the criminal law, and most importantly, to protect the public,” Bailey wrote in his Feb. 23 pleading.
Gras said he didn't think Bailey's lawsuit would be successful and that it would take a recall election to remove Gardner.
"You have to collect signatures and create the question about whether or not she should be recalled," Gras added. "There'd be an election for that, and then there'd be an election to replace her. It's just a really long process, and by the time you get it done, we'd probably be looking at early 2024. Her term expires in August 2024. I would certainly sign a petition if someone put it in front of me."
Gardner said she would continue to do her job fairly and justly when asked by a reporter what she would do to stop her opponents from continuing to harass and intimidate her.
"There are numerous individuals who have an agenda to make sure that my office does not succeed," she said. "That is not an excuse but at the same time, we know we do not control every part of the system. What we can control is we're going to fight very hard for justice in spite of the vitriol, the hate, the racist attacks, and the known manipulation of the court procedures to make sure our office fails."