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Gardner Orders Assistant Prosecutor To Answer to Contempt Charge | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

April 24, 2023

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click to enlarge RYAN KRULL St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner heads to court in April 2023.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is blaming a staff attorney who is currently on leave for a courtroom no-show on the first day of a high-profile murder trial earlier this month — and has ordered him to appear in court later this morning.

The judge in the murder case, Scott A. Millikan, threatened to hold Gardner in criminal contempt of court — a serious finding that can include possible fines or jail time — after no one from her office showed up for the April 17 trial.

On Friday, two investigators with the Circuit Attorney’s Office showed up to assistant circuit attorney Alex Polta’s house with a letter from Gardner. It ordered Polta to appear at today’s contempt hearing in Judge Millikan’s courtroom.

This imbroglio, which is separate from the Missouri attorney general’s effort to remove Gardner, stems from the murder trial of 18-year-old Jonathan Jones, who is accused of shooting and killing 29-year-old Brandon Scott on the Arch grounds in 2021. His trial was set to begin last Monday, April 17, but no one from the Circuit Attorney’s Office appeared in court to prosecute the case.

That same day, Judge Millikan issued an order forcing Gardner to explain why she shouldn’t be held in criminal contempt for the no-show.

The Jones case had been assigned to Polta when Jones was indicted in October 2022. In response to Millikan, Gardner responded in court last week, “[T]he CAO and Ms. Gardner believe that no one appeared for trial because, with the potential exception of Mr. Polta, no one in the CAO was aware” that the case was still set for trial that morning.

Gardner’s court filings include copies of emails between Polta and Gardner as well as texts between Polta and the CAO’s chief warrant officer, Christopher Hinckley. The communications, Gardner argues, show that Polta incorrectly told the office that he had no trials pending when he went on leave in early April.

On April 6, Polta texted Hinckley that he was taking a month of vacation. “I have been ill for 5 months,” the text reads. “This is necessary to continued function [sic].”

Hinckley replied, “Be/get well.”

On Friday, Gardner’s filing in the contempt matter argues, “Ms. Gardner took reasonable steps to ensure that the CAO was covering all matters — including all trial settings — prior to the missed trial setting.”

Specifically, the filing says that Gardner sent an email to her staff attorneys on March 31 asking them to inform her of cases set for trial. Polta responded promptly, indicating that his trials had all been continued, according to Gardner’s filing.

Friday’s filing references April 6 texts from Polta to Hinckley, saying that Polta indicated “he had no trials or substantive matters set during the period he expected to be out.”

Later in the text exchange, the filing notes, Polta wrote, “Kims conduct at the end of last week is fairly indefensible [sic].”

It’s not clear what conduct Polta was referring to. That same day, according to the filing, Polta wrote to Hinckley, referring to Gardner, “I half expect her to be in jail before my vacation ends.”

At one point in the exchange, Hinckley did ask Polta if the Jones case was likely to be “called out,” but Polta never responded to Hinckley with any information about it.

For years, the Circuit Attorney’s Office has faced high staff turnover, which attorneys who have recently left attribute to a “toxic” work environment. Former Assistant Circuit Attorney Natalia Ogurkiewicz departed the office April 14, saying in a blistering resignation letter that lawyers who spoke up about the untenable workload were chastised for doing so.

Gardner says in the court filing in the contempt case that she instructed Polta to appear personally at today’s hearing. The RFT obtained a copy of the letter, hand-delivered to Polta’s house by CAO investigators and signed by Gardner. It instructs Polta to appear, despite him previously telling Hinckley that he’d be on leave throughout April.

Polta has worked in Gardner’s office for six years. He was the subject of an April 13 KSDK article which claimed he was mulling a run for Gardner’s job in 2024.

We welcome tips and feedback. Email the author at [email protected] or follow on Twitter at @RyanWKrull. Coming soon: Riverfront Times Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting St. Louis stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

7 months 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

7 months 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

7 months 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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