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Kim Gardner faces more legal trouble after no-show at murder trial
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ST. LOUIS – As the St. Louis Circuit Attorney joined her legal team in court on Tuesday to call for a judge to dismiss Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s case calling for her removal from office, another judge was threatening to jail her for contempt of court.
Circuit Judge Scott Millikan’s order said Gardner “must appear before this court to show cause why you should not be held in indirect criminal contempt of this court and be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, be required to pay a fine, or both.”
The judge’s action came after Gardner’s assistant, who was prosecuting an Arch grounds murder from September 2021, did not show up for day 1 of the trial on Monday. Millikan said there was no word from Gardner’s office as to why. As a result, the judge said the case may have to be dropped and suspect Jonathon Jones set free, though police said he and an accomplice were caught on camera shooting the victim to death. His attorney is invoking the defendant’s right to a speedy trial by April 26.
A hearing on that contempt issue is set for April 24.
Gardner faces a new challenge from neighboring St. Louis County. Four mayors said it’s time for her office to be combined with the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office.
“It is not just a single source issue, for example, Kim Gardner,” said Wildwood Mayor Jim Bowlin. “Do I think she does a great job in that office? I don’t. (This) needs to be addressed, this problem, on a fundamental, long term, permanent basis.”
The mayors of Manchester, Bridgeton, and Brentwood have joined Bowlin in calling for state lawmakers to take action on their six-point plan to force courts and prosecutors to get tough on adult and juvenile gun, drug, and car crimes.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell released the following statement:
I haven’t had an opportunity to review the proposal and as a result don’t have a comment on it. I will say that I strongly believe prosecutors should be elected and removed from office by the voters. So, I am encouraged to see the General Assembly focusing on making lasting improvements to our criminal justice system to make us all safer. I also believe the future prosperity of the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County are tied together, and helping each other however we can is a positive thing.
As for the Missouri General Assembly, a bill to allow the governor to appoint a special prosecutor for five years to help Gardner prosecute crimes like the Arch grounds murder case has overwhelmingly passed the Missouri House. It could pass the Missouri Senate and head for the governor’s desk as early as next week.
Gardner’s did not respond to requests for comment.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.
Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.
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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.
According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.
Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.
Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.
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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.
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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.
The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.
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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.
A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.
The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.
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