st. Louis –
The Missouri Attorney General on Wednesday called for the resignation of an elected prosecutor in St. Louis. This is because a motorist who was injured in a collision with his teenage volleyball player from Tennessee had both of his legs amputated after repeatedly violating the terms of his bail, which was indicted on previous charges.
The case has renewed criticism of Democratic St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner in questioning why the driver wasn’t jailed after court records showed more than 50 violations of bail conditions. made it
Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Gardner must resign by noon Thursday.
“Instead of protecting victims, circuit attorney Gardner is creating victims,” Bailey said in a statement. “My office is doing everything in its power to restore order and clear up the chaos in St. Louis caused by Kim Gardner’s office negligence.”
Others, including Democrats, joined in criticizing Gardner. Missouri Senate Speaker Protem Caleb Rhoden, a Republican, said Gardner should resign, calling her “incompetent and unfit to hold office.” is totally inappropriate,” he said. Missouri House Speaker Dean Procher also called on Gardner to resign from her position.
Democratic Mayor Tishaula O. Jones said Mr. Gardner had “lost the trust of the people,” but did not call for his resignation.
16-year-old Janae Edmondson, who was playing in town for a volleyball tournament, was injured when she was hit by two cars in downtown St. Louis on Saturday night while walking back to her hotel with her family. The high school senior from Smyrna, Tennessee, said her health was stable, but she was facing complications that required her to stay in the hospital for weeks, her coach said.
As of Wednesday night, a GoFundMe campaign to support her family had raised more than $343,000.
According to police, 21-year-old unlicensed driver Daniel Riley slammed into Edmondson after his car crashed into another vehicle as he refused to give way at an intersection for speeding. Riley was out on bail after being charged with robbery in 2020 and having it dismissed and resubmitted last year.
According to court records, his bail violations included a broken GPS monitor and violation of the terms of his house arrest, and he has breached bail at least seven times since February 1, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. shown.
Court officials said they were unaware that Riley had violated his bail because prosecutors had never filed a motion to have it revoked.
A judge on Tuesday ordered Riley to be held without bond after Riley’s attorney, Daniel Deamer, argued for a reduced bond, saying Riley had no serious criminal record other than robbery. At the same hearing, Edmondson’s parents said their father used his military training to stop the bleeding with a tourniquet made from a belt until the emergency services arrived.
Gardner said in a statement Wednesday night that Riley was released on bail in August “against the wishes of the state.” She said her office asked for her assurance hearing in January, but she didn’t get any response from the court.
“Judges have sole authority to determine the terms of a defendant’s bail,” Gardner said. “Bail violations and sentencing do not rest solely on the shoulders of prosecutors. Prosecutors have requested bail increases several times in this case, but those requests have been denied.”
A bill underway in the Missouri legislature would allow Gov. Mike Parson to appoint a special counsel to handle violent crimes in St. Gardner’s supporters held a rally in the city of Jefferson earlier this month and said efforts to seize power from her were racially motivated.
Gardner was first elected in 2016 and indicted the then governor in 2018. Eric Greitens has been charged with felony invasion of privacy and taking compromising photos of women during an affair. A Republican, Graytens accused her of her political attacks. Charges were later dropped, but Graytens, who was also under investigation by Missouri legislators, resigned in June 2018.
The case was scrutinized, leading to the conviction of Gardner’s investigators and the reprimand of her.
In March, investigator William Tisabi pleaded guilty to misdemeanor evidence tampering. and falsely claimed that all documents had been provided to Greitens’ attorneys.
She drew the ire of the St. Louis Police Department in 2019 when she placed dozens of officers on an “exclusion list” to ban them from bringing cases. The list was created after state groups accused police officers of posting racist and anti-Muslim comments on social media.
In 2020, Gardner sued the city, the police union, and others for organizing an organized and racist conspiracy to remove her. The lawsuit alleges her violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which was adopted to thwart efforts to deny civil rights to racial minorities.
