12,000 Criminal Cases Dismissed Due to St. Louis Prosecutor’s Inaction, Missouri AG Alleges

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner speaks in St. Louis, Mo., on Jan. 13, 2020. (Jim Salter/AP Photo)

The top prosecutor in St. Louis, Missouri, “has lost the trust of the people and left crime victims in the dark,” says Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, adding ammunition to a court case that seeks to remove Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from her elected position.

“She has sacrificed the safety of the city of St. Louis. She has squandered the goodwill of the courts through misdirection and incompetence. She has turned away grieving families while murderers walk free,” Bailey said in a March 21 court filing (pdf).

In that 121-page document, Bailey cites findings from his review of 30,000 records to support a “writ of quo warranto,” a legal proceeding in which Bailey seeks to oust Gardner for alleged failure to perform her official duties.

Double Amputation Sparked Case

Bailey filed the action last month following a public outcry over the tragic case of Janae Edmondson. That visiting teen athlete lost both of her legs in a traffic crash.

The accused motorist, Daniel Riley, is a repeat probation violator who shouldn’t have been on the loose at the time, Bailey and other critics say. They blame Gardner for lax enforcement in numerous cases, including Riley’s. Edmondson was released from a St. Louis hospital earlier this month and continues rehabilitation in her home state of Tennessee.

Janae Edmondson, a Tennessee teen athlete, suffered the loss of both legs after a vehicle crashed into her as she walked along a sidewalk in downtown St. Louis, Mo., on Feb. 18, 2023. (Rhonda Ross/GoFundMe)

Gardner has expressed sympathy for the Edmondsons but she says what happened isn’t her fault. Gardner said she tried to get Riley locked up for his alleged violations, but judges refused or ignored those requests.

The prosecutor, a Democrat, dismissed the attempt to oust her as “a political stunt” by an unelected Republican attorney general. Bailey was appointed to the office late last year after the former attorney general, Eric Schmitt, was elected to the U.S. Senate.

However, in the controversy over Janae’s injuries, even fellow Democrats have been critical of Gardner.

On March 22, in response to The Epoch Tines’ request for comment about Bailey’s latest filing, spokeswoman Allison Hawk said only that Gardner’s office was “reviewing” the lengthy document, which includes dozens of exhibits.

‘Drowning in Drugs’

According to Bailey’s data, Gardner’s inaction has resulted in nearly 12,000 criminal cases being dismissed, “endlessly frustrating courts and victims desperate for justice.”

Police are “drowning in drugs” seized in cases that have languished, Bailey wrote.

In addition, during the past year, Gardner’s office has allowed arrest-warrant applications to sit “unprocessed for more than eight months,” he said.

Further, Bailey accuses Gardner of consenting to “extraordinary bond reductions,” failing to seek revocations for suspects charged with serious and violent crimes.

A crowd of party-goers in St. Louis, Missouri, are seen jumping and stomping on top of an officer's patrol vehicle on May 23, 2021. (Courtesy of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department)

All the while, victims of crimes have not been updated about the status of cases against their alleged perpetrators, he said. Gardner“ failed to honor the Missouri constitutional rights of victims to speedy dispositions, causing them to suffer prolonged grief while they wait years for a chance for justice,” Bailey said in a news release emailed to The Epoch Times.

Many of the office’s woes stem from Gardner’s alleged mismanagement, Bailey said, and a mass exodus of assistant prosecutors.

During 2017-2020, at least 85 assistant circuit attorneys left the office voluntarily or were fired. Bailey called this “an extraordinary level of turnover caused by the toxic and dysfunctional work environment” that Gardner allegedly created.

Those left behind are saddled with insurmountable caseloads, causing staffers to suffer “severe burnout, exhaustion, and seizures,” Bailey said in the news release.

‘Shocking’ Evidence

“This is about protecting the people of the city of St. Louis, restoring the rule of law, and finding justice for victims. We brought this suit to remove a prosecutor who has refused to perform her duties to the people of St. Louis,” Bailey said in the release. “The evidence is shocking and deeply disturbing, and we remain committed to removing Circuit Attorney Gardner from office.”

Gardner, a former member of the Missouri House of Representatives, has held her elected office as a prosecutor since 2017.

During her 2016 election campaign, billionaire George Soros provided significant funding support, The Missouri Times reported.

George Soros answers questions after delivering a speech on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 24, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Gardner is one of 75 prosecutors nationwide who benefited from Soros’ efforts to get “progressives” elected, according to author Matt Palumbo, who wrote a book about Soros.

Reprimanded Previously

Gardner has been involved in several controversies during her tenure.

In December 2020, a judge removed Gardner from the high-profile case of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple who armed themselves in a June 2020 confrontation with Black Lives Matter protesters who stormed through their gated neighborhood.

Armed homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey stand in front of their house confronting protesters marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house in the Central West End of St. Louis on June 28, 2020. (Laurie Skrivan/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

The judge stated it was inappropriate for Gardner to use the McCloskey case in campaign fundraising materials.

Last year, Gardner avoided removal from office after admitting she mistakenly failed to provide all records to defense lawyers in a criminal case. The state Supreme Court reprimanded Gardner and fined her $750 for her errors in that case.

A month ago, the state’s highest court appointed a visiting judge to consider Bailey’s attempt seeking to eject Gardner from office. No hearing date has been set.