I wonder if all those judges who voted to get rid of centralized docketing in all criminal cases at the beginning of this year are now beginning to wake up to the advantages it offered the 22nd Judicial Circuit. Think how much easier it would be to resume operations post-COVID emergency if centralized docketing were still in place.
Category: Uncategorized
Ain’t no sunshine
The St. Louis Circuit Court ruled yesterday that the Sunshine Law applies to Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. She can no longer keep secret her numerous contracts for legal representation, and must turn them over to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Oh, don’t think you’ll be seeing them soon.
There will be the inevitable appeal filed by Ms. Gardner. That will eat up a lot of time. Her appeal will eventually be denied — just as all the writs and appeals she has filed since taking office have been denied. Then she will ask for transfer to the Missouri Supreme Court. She will keep doing whatever she can to avoid following the Court’s ruling. She will fight it to the bitter, bitter end. That’s part of her standard operating procedure.
And as she fights the Court’s ruling she will tell the public — as she did in this article — that she has done nothing wrong and is cooperating. Her office in a statement about the Court’s ruling said that she has provided “the available requested documents as we do with all requests to our office.” If that were true, of course, then the Court would not have needed to issue an order; the issue would have been moot. If it were true, the Sunshine case would not have been ongoing for almost a year. If it were true, the contracts would still not be kept from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
This is precisely the same tactics we saw in her handling of the Greitens trial. There she hid evidence, failed to disclose evidence, and obstructed the defense and Court at every step while publicly proclaiming her innocence and victimhood. It ended with the Greitens case dismissed, her chief investigator indicted for perjury, and her reputation in legal circles in ruins.
The ironic part of this is that Gardner publicly described the Greitens defense team as using a “scorched earth” strategy.
The reality is, like in the Sunshine case, she fought her opposition every step of the way to prevent them from simply getting discovery that the law required to be turned over.
The Sunshine case is an outgrowth of Greitens. Ms. Gardner has entered into numerous contracts with private, outside law frims, from Washington D.C. to Kansas City, to help her deal with the problems she created for herself by her actions in Greitens. This includes issues raised during Greitens, during the subsequent grand jury investigation of her and her office and subsequent indictment of her hand-picked investigator Tisaby, her dealing with ethical complaints arising from her handling of Greitens, political lobbying, etc.
She understandably doesn’t want us to see what all these various law firms have been doing for her or how much it’s costing the taxpayers. That’s why she’s been fighting and will continue to fight the disclosure of these contracts. It’s not going to cast her in a good light. That’s why she wants to keep the public in the dark.
Gardner and credibility
Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is in the news again.
This time the Missouri Attorney General (AG), Eric Schmitt, wrote a letter to Ms. Gardner asking for a list of inmates released from City jails due to the COVID-19 emergency. Apparently, AG Schmitt is concerned that alleged violent offenders have been released and that Ms. Gardner’s office has not taken appropriate steps to stop those releases (and in some cases have consented to them) and that proper statutory protocols, like notifying victims of the release, have not been followed.
The Attorney General’s letter is included in the news report.
Ms. Gardner responded with her own letter. The upshot of her letter is that the AG is acting on misinformation and questions why she is being singled out.
My take on all of this is that the AG got wind of potentially violent offenders being released in the City — not from Farmington or Scott County or even St. Louis County. Just from the City. So the AG looked into it and saw that indeed some persons charged with violent offenses, including some with significant criminal histories, were released. Ten of them were identified in the AG letter. So, the AG wrote Ms. Gardner of what appears to be valid concerns. That’s his job.
My question is: why won’t Ms. Gardner just provide the AG with the list of people released? Why not just say, “Here, these are the persons we released, and if you have any questions or concerns let me know and we can clear it up?”
I bring this up because it seems Ms. Gardner’s default position when questioned is to (1) vehemently deny any fault, (2) bring up how she is being singled out and take offense at any suggestion of impropriety (I’m the victim here, how dare you!), and (3) at the same time refuse to cooperate with anyone questioning her.
We saw this in the Tisaby probe by the Special Prosecutor.
Why not just cooperate? Be transparent. If the Special Prosecutor wants anything, tell them that your files are open. Come look at whatever you like. I have nothing to hide. If the AG wants a list of released inmates, give them the list. Give them the evidence that you’ve been doing your job. How isn’t that to your advantage? Let them see for themselves that you’ve done nothing wrong. If you haven’t done anything wrong, act like it. Don’t expect that they’ll simply take your word for it. That’s not how credibility works.
Ms. Gardner unfortunately continues to fail to realize a simple truth: your credibility is determined by your actions, not your words.
No admittance
The Civil and Carnahan Court Houses are closed to anyone who is not 22nd Judicial Circuit staff. You need an employee badge to gain entry.
The only exception is if you have a court order. So, if you have a in-person hearing set, like a bond hearing in Division 16B, before you go you need to obtain a court access order that will allow you in the building. No court order, no admittance. All cases presently set in Division 25 and 26 will be continued automatically. If it’s a situation where you need to appear, you need to contact the judge to get an access order.
I have been in contact via email with Presiding Judge Burlison. He’s been very responsive to our concerns and questions. Criminal Docket Controller, Dawn Allen, is also a great resource for anyone having questions.
On a side note, the COVID-19 emergency has most criminal defense attorneys working from home. Only some offices remain open. Some other criminal defense firms have had firings, lay-offs, etc. My office (Niehoff & Hufty, LLC.) is open but client access is by appointment only. We swab everything down daily — and after each visit — with disinfectant, keep contact to a minimum, etc. And we continue to visit our confined clients.
How the City is running
I second that
I call “bullshit”
The Circuit Attorney, Kim Gardner, has announced that because of the corona virus she is taking steps to ease jail crowding.
Here she is applauding herself and her efforts.
Only the jail remains crowded.
The reason I call bullshit is because while many nonviolent offenders are being released it is not because of the handiwork of the reform prosecutors, including Ms. Gardner. Many nonviolent defendants have been typically released on bond, and today, because of bail reforms instituted by the Missouri Supreme Court, most of the remaining are released. In other words, the judges would release these people regardless of the CAO’s recommendation. Ms. Gardner really has nothing to do with it.
But, of course, it’s politically useful to take credit for other people’s work.
Uncertainty
Many things have changed in the 22nd Judicial Circuit since my last post. And, I think they will continue to change as the virus situation changes. There are so many moving parts to this emergency that no one can really say with any assurance how things are going to move.
Judge Sippel, the presiding District Judge in the U.S. Eastern District of Missouri, has of yesterday issued an order essentially continuing all “non-essential,” in-person court proceedings for the entire federal district courts through May 31, 2020. Yes, May 31st. I expect that sooner or later the Missouri Supreme Court and our judges will follow suit.
https://www.moed.uscourts.gov/sites/moed/files/documents/news/Order-03172020.pdf
Presently, in the City the CAO has gone to a rotating skeleton crew. Detention hearings and bond hearings are about the only things going on. The City court houses are pretty much ghost towns. Many judges are preemptively continuing status conferences, bond appearances, etc. Of course all jury trials have been canceled. It’s a good idea to call (a day ahead of time) before you go to court. I’m telling all my bond clients not to go to court unless I specifically tell them otherwise.
The sheriffs — God bless them — are screening people as they come into the court houses by taking their (forehead skin) temperature. I walked into the Carnahan Building today after walking 3 blocks in the cold to have mine checked. The deputy looked at the result, said, “Your’s is 92. You’re good.”
At the Justice Center and at MSI you are also screened with questions about your health and travels before admittance.
Of course, this means the much-anticipated Tisaby trial set March 30th will be continued. And the Joe Neill bench trial which was scheduled for this afternoon has been continued to May 26th.
And, for some sad news: Kristy Ridings (The Ridings Group) was officially disbarred as of March 17, 2020. She will be missed. She was good at criminal defense but apparently very bad at business.
Shifting gears: do what you can to slow the spread of the virus. The whole idea of social distancing is not to prevent you from contracting the disease. It is to prevent — or at least slow — the spread of it. So assume you are a carrier of the corona virus. How should you as a virus carrier behave? Every person with whom you have contact, you are putting at risk. If you aren’t concerned for your health, at least be concerned for the health of other people.
Courts close
Starting Monday, March 16th, the St. Louis County State Court will close for 2 weeks in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Only essential personal and activities will continue – new criminal confined, bond hearings, etc. The City is canceling all jury trials for 4 weeks. Federal jury trials are also being continued.
Word is that the Missouri Supreme Court will be enacting some statewide order to close or restrict courts shortly.
Reform prosecutor?
A jury in Division 22 is hearing a felony criminal case, State v. Michael Fullilove and State v. Sionya Haley, involving alleged child abuse where the both defendant-parents are accused of having abused their very young children by feeding them only vegetables. No sugar or fast food. Only vegetables. The kids were restricted to such an extreme vegan diet that it resulted in severe undernourishment and permanent injuries to the kids.
They are both now charged with class B felonies. Charges that carry from 5 to 15 years in prison.
The defendant-parents are representing themselves and have claimed sovereign-citizenship (which the court properly rejected).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_citizen_movement
That demonstrates the “mindset,” cognitive abilities, and/or mental health of the parents. In other words, they have significant mental issues. And that is the crux of this case: how do we treat the mentally ill?
The parents weren’t neglectful or abusive in the normal sense. They wrongfully believed, due to their mental issues, that their extreme veganism was actually healthy for their kids. It’s a case of the sovereign-citizen mindset applied to child rearing. Sincere but crazy. And their sincere actions permanently damaged their kids.
The best analogy I can come up with is a parent who learns that drinking water is good for your kids and so they force them to drink so much water they become water-intoxicated, a serious medical condition that can kill you.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318619#water-intoxication-
Fortunately for the children, the state intervened. The children are now in DFS custody, and until the parents demonstrate an understanding and ability to properly nourish their children — which likely may be never — the kids will remain in DFS care.
With the children now safe, it makes one wonder what the goal of the CAO is with prosecuting the parents? These parents were trying to do what is best for their kids. They, due to their own serious mental limitations, hurt their kids. Were these the actions of criminals? Should they go to prison for 5 to 15 years?
The CAO must think so because they brought and unrelentingly continue with this prosecution. And, as a prosecutors ethical duty is to seek justice and not convictions, the CAO must believe that is proper justice to convict the parents. Harsh. Legalistic.
I thought “reform prosecutors” promised something different.
ADDENDUM:
I received blow back from this post by several prosecutors who had all sorts of sound reasons why these parents should be prosecuted and should go to prison.
I think they missed the point of my post.
An “old school” prosecutor, like Jennifer Joyce or Bob McCullough, would certainly believe the solution would be to prosecute and lock up the parents, to both punish them for severely and permanently injuring their kids and to prevent them from further procreation (and potential injury to more children). I get it. And that’s a valid viewpoint.
However, it’s not the “reform prosecutor” viewpoint.
https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/FJP_21Principles_FINAL.pdf
https://www.vera.org/projects/reshaping-prosecution-program/learn-more
And that’s the point of my post: is this prosecution consistent with the goals and values of reform prosecution?