The final straw or when the right thing happens for the wrong reason

I’ve never been a fan of how Kim Gardner runs her office. She is incompetent and should never have been reelected. She has taken what was once one of the best prosecuting attorney offices in the state and through mismanagement reduced it to a barely functioning shell of its former self. And, she has done incalculable damage to the City and its residents as a result.

And now, after she has served almost six years in office, people are finally waking up to the problem. This is not because of the things I’ve outlined here on my blog or the innumerable other problems I haven’t written about: it is all because of the community outrage brewing over a car accident that left a young woman, a multi-sport athlete, critically injured with both her legs amputated.

Daniel Riley was apparently speeding (45 mph in a 25 mph zone) when he struck several cars and rolled the car he was driving. One of the cars he struck during the accident pinned the young woman between two cars crushing her legs.

The outrage is because Riley was on bond on a robbery case when the accident occurred, and he had incurred “more than 50 bond violations.” Not only that, but his case, which had been set for trial, was dismissed by prosecutors and was then refiled.

City politicians have erupted with condemnation. Mayor Jones pledged “to review the processes that led up to this preventable tragedy.” St. Louis Alderman Tom Oldenburg lamented, “You have an innocent 16-year-old lose her legs because that office can’t file a motion (to revoke bond)? Despicable.” “It just breaks my heart to think about that young woman and what she’s going to endure because this individual was still running loose,” said Rep. Lane Roberts of Joplin, Missouri (the sponsor of a legislative bill to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the City’s serious cases).

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has called for Kim Gardner to resign by noon today or face removal from office.

The prevailing sentiment that’s being reported is that this accident could have been avoided if only the Circuit Attorney’s Office had done their job properly and filed a motion to revoke Riley’s bond. But that’s simply not true. I know because I was Riley’s attorney for that robbery case.

The assistant prosecutor on that case did bring to the Court’s attention Riley’s numerous bond violations. We had a hearing on his violations. And based on the totality of the circumstances — none of which appear in the media stories — the Court allowed him to remain on bond.

And, yes, Riley’s case was dismissed on its trial date and refiled. This was because I thought the state and I had reached a plea agreement, but that deal fell through on the morning of the scheduled trial when we were going to conduct the plea. The state had only recently gotten in contact with the victim — who by the way was at court the day of the scheduled trial/plea — and didn’t want to proceed to trial without being fully prepared (it was a serious case after all). In view of the defense changing its mind about the plea, the state requested a continuance. This was denied by the Court and the state filed a nolle prosequi rather than proceed with a trial it didn’t feel it was adequately prepared for. None of that is outlandish, and happens in every jurisdiction.

Interestingly, no media outlet except KMOV contacted me about the situation. You’d think reporters would be interested in getting all the details correct.

In any event, this incident could very well mean the end to Kim Gardner’s stint as the Circuit Attorney for the City of St. Louis. And, if it does, the world will be a better place. However, I find it ironic that none of the genuine issues with her management has brought about her downfall, but what very well might is a situation where her office really did nothing wrong.

I never really appreciated the final straw metaphor until now.