St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Michael Noble has scheduled indirect criminal contempt of court hearings for top prosecutor Kim Gardner and assistant prosecutor Chris Desilets, who has since resigned.
Noble made the decision after Desilets failed to report to an April 10 court hearing involving the alleged shooting of an 11-year-old girl by 28-year-old Steven Vincent in Oct. 2020, according to media reports.
“Indirect criminal contempt is an action that doesn't occur directly in front of the judge but similarly puts the court in a position where their orders are not followed and the respect of the judge is questioned or impaired,” said David Mueller, a local criminal defense attorney campaigning to replace Gardner. “Anything theoretically that could impair the way the court is viewed by the public can be something that leads to indirect criminal contempt.”
Because an indirect contempt of court determination can potentially result in Gardner’s imprisonment, a hearing is scheduled for the end of May.
“She has the right to counsel and she also has the right to discovery and everything else,” Mueller told the St. Louis Record.
Gardner’s attorney is Mike Downey. Noble appointed a special prosecutor to handle the indirect contempt of court proceedings.
“The judge is not supposed to be the judge and the prosecutor when he holds someone in criminal contempt,” Mueller said in an interview. “He actually has to appoint somebody else to prosecute the case. He can't do it himself because he would sit as the judge and prosecutor.”
Desilets announced his immediate resignation May 1 after failing to appear for a jury trial due to a reported knee injury that flared up.
“No one else from the office was able to show up and so Judge Noble had set a show cause order for what was going on with his knee, and whether this was a valid reason for him missing a trial date but he failed to show up for that show cause hearing,” Mueller said.
Fox News reported that Gardner sent attorney Rob Huq as her designee to Desilet’s show cause hearing.
“There are 450 to 500 pending violent crimes so it’s an untenable situation,” Mueller added. “No one could take on that many cases and ethically prosecute them. You have so many files that have irreconcilable court dates that you couldn't possibly be in four places at one time.”
Last month, Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a Quo Warranto petition in St. Louis City Circuit Court requesting a preliminary order immediately removing Gardner.
However, Gardner announced her intention to campaign for re-election in 2024 despite the legal obstacles.