Politics and race, not ethics, driving case against St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner
Kim Gardner, the top prosecuting attorney in St. Louis, likely avoided severe punishment by reaching an agreement this week with the chief disciplinary counsel for the Missouri Supreme Court.
But were the allegations of misconduct enough to warrant this level of scrutiny of St. Louis’ first Black female circuit attorney? Hardly. We know of a few white prosecutors in Missouri that have erroneously sent innocent people to prison for decades and their disciplinary records remain unblemished.
In recent years, three murder convictions tied to former Jackson County Prosecutor Amy McGowan have been overturned or vacated. Her law license remains active in Missouri, according to records available online. A disciplinary hearing initiated against McGowan two years ago is still pending, according to a spokesperson for the Missouri Supreme Court.
Gardner, as you’ll recall, was in charge of the 2018 invasion of privacy case against disgraced former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens. On Monday, she admitted to failing to disclose evidence — handwritten notes, mainly — to attorneys representing Greitens.
But her actions were never malevolent, legal minds I spoke with said. Absolutely nothing she did procedurally affected the underlying conduct being investigated.
Under terms of the joint stipulation, Gardner will not be suspended, placed on probation or disbarred unless the agreement is rejected by a three-person panel of the disciplinary counsel and the Missouri Supreme Court. The panel has 30 days to recommend Gardner’s punishment to the state’s highest court.
If the signed agreement is ignored and Gardner loses her license, she could no longer stay in office. State statutes require elected prosecutors to hold active law licenses.
Facing calls for his impeachment, Greitens resigned as Missouri governor in 2018, part of an agreement to dismiss a felony computer-tampering charge against him, according to the St. Louis prosecutor’s office.
William Tisaby, the former FBI agent hired by Gardner to investigate Greitens, pleaded guilty in March to a misdemeanor count of evidence tampering in connection with the case.
Greitens, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate, has of course claimed the joint stipulation between Gardner and the disciplinary counsel absolves him of any wrongdoing.
In April 2018, just prior to Greitens’ resignation, the Missouri House released a report that contained the allegations of sexual and physical abuse by Greitens. In testimony the GOP-led committee deemed credible, Greitens’ hairdresser alleged he had forced her to perform oral sex. She also testified that he hit her on three occasions. Greitens claimed an affair with the woman but denied the claims of abuse and blackmail.
Last month, Greitens was accused of volatile, dangerous behavior, according to an affidavit filed by his ex-wife as part of a custody dispute in which she also described his behavior as “unhinged.”
Hard-line Missouri Republicans have tried to undermine Gardner from the time she ran for office as a progressive Democrat bent on reforming the criminal justice system in St. Louis. Last year, her attorney described the misconduct allegations against her as “another attempt by Ms. Gardner’s political enemies — largely from outside St. Louis — to remove Ms. Gardner and thwart the systemic reforms she champions,” according to a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Nevertheless, she has hung in there. St. Louis voters have twice elected Gardner as circuit attorney. Those residents have the right to decide if she remains in office, not vindictive politicians at the state Capitol in Jefferson City.
