St. Louis prosecutor asks for dismissal of attorney general's suit to remove her

Democratic St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner filed a legal motion late Tuesday to dismiss Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s attempt to remove her from office.

Jonathan Sternberg, Gardner’s attorney, filed a 40-page motion to dismiss the quo warranto petition filed by Bailey. After filing a 19-page petition in February to remove Gardner, Bailey filed an amended 121-page petition in March. The new petition made at least nine allegations that Gardner knowingly and willfully failed to execute the duties of her office.

In a four-point summary in the petition for dismissal, Sternberg noted Missouri law only allows removal of a duly elected official for “willful neglect, failure or refusal to perform her duties.” He also said the statute allowing removal of an official has only been applied when there’s proof of intentional corruption.

Sternberg said the actions or inactions of Gardner and her subordinates are “insufficient to meet the high bar” of the statute. Sternberg stated Bailey’s allegations fail to show Gardner “engaged in intentional corrupt acts in derogation of her duties.”

Gardner, who was first elected in 2016 and re-elected last November with 74% of the vote, often faced criticism for progressive reforms. Criticism became outrage when a high school volleyball player from Tennessee was struck and pinned by a car and surgeons amputated both legs. The alleged driver of the car was a 21-year-old man who violated pretrial bond more than 100 times after being charged with first degree robbery and armed criminal action for stealing a firearm at gunpoint in 2020.

Democratic St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones joined a chorus of Democratic elected officials and business leaders in February in questioning Gardner’s ability to continue in the office. Shortly thereafter, Bailey gave her a noon deadline to resign on Feb. 23 or face legal action.

“Mr. Bailey’s Amended Petition seeks to take advantage of tragedy for political points, while ignoring the will of the voters,” Sternberg wrote. “This Court must dismiss his amended petition as the ill-advised political stunt that it is, unsupported by the facts or the law.”

Also on Tuesday, Gardner’s legal team filed a 92-page answer to Bailey’s amended petition. The word “denies” is used 650 times in the document. She admits to basic facts about her election, the office, residency, prosecutorial discretion and Missouri law in the document.