ST. LOUIS — Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Desilets resigned, effective immediately Monday. This move comes just days after he was called before a judge to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt for missing a trial.
Desilets confirmed his resignation to 5 On Your Side, but declined to comment further.
Note: The video above is from April 29.
He is the fifth prosecutor in the Violent Felonies Unit to leave the office since February. 5 On Your Side has obtained an email sent by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner to her staff at 4:21 p.m. Friday that Assistant Circuit Attorney Alex Polta also is no longer with the office.
"We want to wish Alexander Polta well on his new endeavors," according to the email signed by Gardner.
Their departures mean there is now just one prosecutor in Gardner’s Office handling about 500 violent felony cases.
That’s a number Gardner’s spokeswoman Allison Hawk disputes, telling 5 On Your Side there are well over 30 attorneys in the office handling violent felonies.
5 On Your Side filed a Sunshine request asking for a list of the people employed by Gardner's office. It shows 22 people have the title of attorney, and only one is assigned to the Violent Felonies Unit.
At a rally for Gardner during the weekend, she told a crowd of between 55 and 60 supporters: "Like I said, I don't care if I have nobody in my office because it's about doing the right things. And if you stand in silence and you sit there and watch the show and think it's okay? It's me here now today. It's going to be you next and your family next."
Hawk issued a statement regarding the resignations Monday, which read:
"The backbone of the Circuit Attorney’s Office are the hardworking men and women who review and issue cases on a daily basis. While we have had some high profile departures, the office continues to seek justice for the people of the City of St. Louis. The CAO has made adjustments to the workload to ensure all cases are covered, and is actively recruiting talented attorneys. The prosecutor’s office continues to be an excellent training ground for those seeking experience in the criminal justice system, and we continue to receive resumes from qualified attorneys. Despite constant criticism and scrutiny, the team continues to pull together to serve the City of St. Louis under the leadership of Circuit Attorney Gardner."
The judges from the 22nd Judicial Circuit issued a statement Monday following news of Desilets' departure. It read:
"More recent departures from the Circuit Attorney's Office -- leaving fewer attorneys to prosecute hundreds of serious cases on the trial docket -- are deeply concerning to the judges of the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court. We will continue to make reasonable accommodations amid the CAO's current staffing crisis while always balancing the rights of defendants, crime victims and their families to ensure the fair and efficient administration of justice."
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office cites the lack of prosecutors in Gardner’s office as grounds for her willful neglect of her duties. Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office says it should serve as a reason to remove her from office.
Desilets appeared before Judge Michael Noble Thursday to explain why he missed a trial on April 10, and had another assistant circuit attorney tell the judge he couldn’t be there due to a knee injury.
The judge then set a hearing for April 24 for him to appear and explain his absence in court, which Desilets also failed to attend.
Noble then filed what's known as a show cause order, demanding Gardner or someone from her office and Desilets appear before him so he could determine if there is enough evidence to charge him and Gardner with contempt. Desilets told the judge by the time he made it to court April 24, the door was already locked.
Noble also noted how Desilets alone had a caseload of 104 felonies, and how that makes it impossible for him to avoid having multiple scheduling conflicts in different courts, and, despite knowing this, Gardner has done nothing to fix it.
His resignation does not affect the contempt proceedings that have already begun against him. Noble set a hearing for May 30 and asked that a special prosecutor be assigned to the case.