"Essentially abandoned its duty": Gardner under fire after murder suspect released for prosecutor

[PeteS in CA]

"Essentially abandoned its duty": Gardner under fire after murder suspect released for prosecutor no-shows

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2021/07/21/essentially-abandoned-its-duty-gardner-under-fire-after-murder-suspect-released-for-prosecutor-no-shows-n403589

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner spent months hounding the McCloskeys for displaying firearms at a mob outside their house. Gardner and her office took a lot less interest in a murder case, and as a result the suspect is on the streets. Prosecutors in Gardner’s office failed to appear at a series of pretrial hearings for Brandon Campbell, leading a judge to release him — and rip Gardner (via Newsalert):

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is under fire after a judge drops murder charges against an accused killer.

The unusual move came after the prosecutor from Gardner’s office, who was assigned the case, didn’t show up to court. Now the chairman of the St Louis Aldermanic Public Safety committee wants to call Gardner in front of his committee to explain the incident.

Judge Jason Sengheiser wrote a scathing order dropping the murder charges. The accused killer, Brandon Campbell, was released from jail and is still at large. …

The judge sharply criticized Gardner’s office for the mix up saying, “The Circuit Attorney’s Office has essentially abandoned its duty to prosecute those it charges with crimes.”

The original assistant DA had health issues, but Gardner failed to assign a different attorney to the case. Evidently, the dismissal was without prejudice, but what a waste of taxpayer $$, court time, and risk to the public as an accused murdererwalks free, for now! Will Gardner bother to refile charges? I won't be looking like a Smurf (from holding my breath)!

[PeteS in CA]

This is getting messier:

Gardner meltdown deepens: Who falsely put prosecutor's electronic signature on 28 cases?

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2021/07/22/gardner-meltdown-deepens-who-falsely-put-prosecutors-electronic-signature-on-28-cases-n403865

Incompetence might only be a secondary issue in the scandal at the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office. Yesterday, KSDK reported that Kim Gardner’s office had repeatedly failed to show up at hearings or respond to a judge’s order in a murder case, leading to the dismissal of the charges and the apparent flight of the subject. Gardner’s office tried to pass this off as confusion over maternity leave, which itself is rather suspect.

Late last night, the maternity leave excuse became even more threadbare. KSDK reports that Kim Arshi, the original prosecutor in the case who went on leave, has resigned after finding that someone used her electronic signature without her consent in as many as 28 cases — including the infamous case of Brandon Campbell:
...
If that turns out to be accurate, hoo boy. It’s one thing to be incompetent and fail to appear at hearings. It’s quite another to put false representations on court documents, let alone forge signatures — electronic or otherwise — while doing so. Those are actual crimes, which might explain why Arshi abruptly quit after discovering what happened.

[mountaineer]

Gardner, like her leftist counterpart in St. Louis County, is one of many Soros-funded incompetents elected as prosecuting attorney.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Dismissal of St. Louis murder cases stems from problems in prosecutor’s office
    Joel Currier
 Jul 20, 2021

ST. LOUIS — Three murder cases in St. Louis Circuit Court have been dismissed within a week, stemming in part from absent or unprepared city prosecutors.

Two of those cases have since been refiled, but not before one of the defendants was released from jail. He remained free Monday.

On Monday, the Circuit Attorney’s Office dropped a murder case against Terrion L. Phillips — the third St. Louis murder case dismissed in a week. ...

The three dropped murder cases are the consequence of continued turnover within the Circuit Attorney’s Office, and its apparent failure to manage its caseload as the rollback of pandemic-era court restrictions allows more jury trials to take place. ...

[Circuit Judge] Sengheiser blamed Gardner’s office for failing to prosecute the case.

“The Circuit Attorney’s Office is ultimately the party responsible for protecting public safety by charging and then prosecuting those it believes commit crimes,” Sengheiser’s order said. “In a case like this where the Circuit Attorney’s office has essentially abandoned its duty to prosecute those it charges with crimes, the court must impartially enforce the law and any resultant threat to public safety is the responsibility of the Circuit Attorney’s Office.”  ...

Link to full story

Sure, it's just relaxed pandemic rules. 

[Elderberry]

Legal Insurrection by Mike LaChance Thursday, July 22, 2021

“Judge Jason Sengheiser wrote a scathing order dropping the murder charges. The accused killer, Brandon Campbell, was released from jail and is still at large.”

Kim Gardner, the left-wing circuit attorney in Missouri who aggressively went after the McCloskeys for defending their home from a BLM mob, failed to have anyone from her office appear in court for a recent murder trial.

The judge let the killer go. Why are people putting up with this?

Elliott Davis reports at FOX 2 in St. Louis:

    Judge drops murder charges after no show of prosecutor from St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office

    St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is under fire after a judge drops murder charges against an accused killer.

    The unusual move came after the prosecutor from Gardner’s office, who was assigned the case, didn’t show up to court. Now the chairman of the St. Louis Aldermanic Public Safety committee wants to call Gardner in front of his committee to explain the incident.

    Judge Jason Sengheiser wrote a scathing order dropping the murder charges. The accused killer, Brandon Campbell, was released from jail and is still at large.

More: https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/07/prosecutor-who-went-after-the-mccloskeys-pulls-no-show-for-murder-trial-forcing-judge-to-free-killer/

[Mod2]

Merged two threads regarding the same court ruling.

[PeteS in CA]

"Dereliction of duty": Dismissed cases tripled under Gardner, while cases stall

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2021/07/23/dereliction-of-duty-dismissed-cases-tripled-under-gardner-while-cases-stall-n404168

The more people dig into the job performance of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, the worse it looks. Even her allies have begun asking whether Gardner is championing criminal-justice reform or simply fumbling her duties. The chief public defender in the jurisdiction told NPR’s local affiliate that Gardner’s performance is “a troubling reality,” even though Matthew Mahaffey supported her reforms:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch pinned the dismissals on high turnover at the office of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. The office has suffered more than 100% turnover under Gardner, and as a result, writes Joel Currier, it’s gone from dismissing an average of 10% to 15% of felony cases in the years before Gardner’s election to more than 30% in the last three years. Last year, it dismissed 36% of all felony cases, Currier reported. …

While Gardner’s office has assured the public that the charges have been refiled in all three cases, there will be delays for both crime victims and defendants seeking their day in court.

“It starts the process over again,” he said. “And that is a troubling reality for everyone that’s involved with that case, regardless of whether they’re with the prosecutor’s office or our office. For our clients, many times, it means they remain confined, and they have to start again towards what they hope is an opportunity to address the case in the way they have decided they want to address it.”

OK, I'll use the P-, R-, and I-Words: Politicized, Racialized, and Incompetent!