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St. Louis Sheriff Blocks Whistleblowing Attorney’s Access to Jail

Published

1 year ago

April 9, 2024

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A defense attorney who last week went public with a photo of a client lying in his filth in the St. Louis city jail says the Sheriff’s Office barred her from meeting with other clients yesterday.

“They wouldn’t let me back to my clients,” Susan McGraugh tells the RFT. “It was total retaliation.”

She said that she asked a sheriff’s deputy directly, “Is this about me?”

She says she was told, “Yes.”

It took a judge’s order for McGraugh to gain access to her clients.

McGraugh, who directs the Criminal Defense Clinic at the Saint Louis University School of Law, had hearings for four clients yesterday, all of whom were locked up. She would typically meet them in a holding area where detainees with court dates wait before their time in front of a judge. That area is supervised by sheriff’s employees.

But when McGraugh tried to access the area, she was told that only contract attorneys were allowed. She explained she was, in fact, a contract attorney. She says it quickly became clear that her denial of access had everything to do with the photo she shared with the media.

That photo, taken last Monday, showed Lamarr Pearson, a paralyzed 35-year-old who’d been arrested on assault charges, lying on the floor in his own feces. He told McGraugh he’d been like that for two or three days and had been told to clean himself with a swath of plastic that had been wrapped around a sandwich.
click to enlarge Courtesy Susan McGraugh Lamarr Pearson, a paralyzed detainee at the CJC.

She made the photo public to raise alarm about the situation at the City Justice Center, which has been a source of concern among local defense attorneys. At one point, previous complaints about one detainee’s untreated medical condition, documented in a photo and made public by a different attorney, led to a ban on attorneys bringing phones into the jail, although lawyers say they were given an exception if they filled out a form.

McGraugh’s photo last week was covered by the RFT and other outlets. Yet despite that attention, McGraugh says Pearson is still not getting medication, including painkillers and blood thinners that he requires to prevent blood clots caused by his paralysis.

McGraugh says she had a back-and-forth at one point yesterday with Sheriff Vernon Betts about her not getting access to the area of the jail his office controls. She says Betts criticized her for speaking to the media about Pearson and went on to assert he hadn’t spoken to the media himself. McGraugh then pointed out his having been quoted on the previous night’s KMOV broadcast.

Eventually, 22nd Circuit Court President Judge Elizabeth Hogan issued an order stating that McGraugh be allowed “immediate access to her clients in the usual and customary manner.” Betts was CC’ed on the order.

McGraugh says she did meet with her clients yesterday, but only for half as long as she usually would.

In a separate order, Judge Catherine Dierker ordered the jail to provide Pearson with a thorough medical examination, appropriate medication and “an opportunity to shower immediately.”

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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