By The Vanguard Staff
ST. LOUIS, MO – Progressive St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner abruptly resigned here Tuesday—two weeks sooner than expected, according to a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The timing of Gardner’s resignation “scuttled an early plan to hand off some responsibilities to St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell. His spokesman said the office was ready to help, but Gardner’s surprise exit left the plan in limbo,” according to the Post-Dispatch, adding Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he would appoint an interim replacement by Friday—the Attorney General’s Office, he said, would fill in until then.
“This is a very unprecedented situation,” said Bill Corrigan, a lawyer for Attorney General Andrew Bailey. “A very volatile, very fluid situation.”
“Bell and Gardner, both elected as progressive prosecutors who promised to reform the criminal justice system and review wrongful convictions, have been in talks since at least last week about a plan to rebuild her office. He was seen visiting her office with top aides last week and visiting again on Monday and Tuesday this week,” reported the Post-Dispatch.
The newspaper added Gardner in her resignation called the plan to turn over her office to Bell “comprehensive” and directed questions about city cases to Bell’s office, and Bell spokesman Chris King “revealed that Bell was given security access to Gardner’s office, two county attorneys were training in the city warrant office, and Bell’s office expected to begin charging cases in the city.”
In her resignation announcement Tuesday, Gardner said she was committed to serving the people of St. Louis and had “done all she can to ensure a smooth transition.”
“Gardner’s abrupt departure throws into further chaos a city courts system that’s already bending under the weight of a staffing exodus, organizational dysfunction, a leadership vacuum and a backlog of several thousand cases. Her office lost roughly a third of its attorneys in two months, and two judges filed to hold her in contempt of court after prosecutors didn’t show up for scheduled hearings or trials,” wrote the Post-Dispatch.
“The departure comes amid months of mounting criticism of Gardner’s office. (A suit was filed) earlier this year to remove her from office, and Missouri lawmakers filed a bill seeking to strip her of most of her power. Gardner struck a deal to step down in exchange for lawmakers dropping the bill,” added the Post-Dispatch.
The Post-Dispatch reported, “Gardner had even issued an order seeking to appoint Bell as an assistant prosecutor in the city before she resigned Tuesday morning, but that move needed approval from a judge, and no ruling was made on Tuesday, King said. “We’re here. We’re ready to work,” he said in a hall packed with reporters outside Gardner’s office. “But we’re not sure what our legal standing is.”
“After announcing the intended collaboration — without details — last week, Bell was criticized by a St. Louis County councilman who argued Bell should have to get council approval before ‘using any county resources’ to help Gardner’s office,” the Post-Dispatch said.
Bailey said in a statement Tuesday evening he would send the attorney who led the lawsuit seeking Gardner’s removal, and several others to St. Louis to receive charging referrals from police and “start the process of clearing the backlog of cases,” according to the Post-Dispatch.
“We need somebody in there right now,” Parson said, “just to stabilize things and make sure we’re doing the functions of the prosecutor’s office to make sure we’re going after hardcore criminals in this city and this state.”
The Post-Dispatch added, “Area counties said they’d help, too: Prosecutors in St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln, Warren and St. Louis counties released a joint statement Tuesday saying they’ve pledged to help Parson’s appointee “in any manner we can.”
Restoring faith in the prosecutor’s office, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said Tuesday, is “critical to a functional criminal justice system.” She thanked Parson for “engaging St. Louis’ elected and community leaders as he makes this critical decision.”
The Post-Dispatch reported, “Parson said the roughly 20 applicants to replace Gardner were an ‘extremely talented pool’ and political party would not be a factor in his pick,” noting Parson said, “It’s not going to be a political appointment.”
But Gardner did go after two white homeowners who simply stood on their front porch with guns while protecting their property during the 2020 BLM summer riots. Glad to see her resign.
As opposed to Lamar Johnson, wrongly convicted in 1994, who would not be free today without the work of Gardner and her office.
It sounds like she let the criminals go free while trying to prosecute cases for political purposes like the couple who tried to defend their property by standing on their front porch with guns even though they never fired them.