ST. LOUIS — The indirect criminal contempt charges against former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her former assistant prosecutor have been dropped after the special prosecutor assigned to the case filed a motion to dismiss it.
“The State of Missouri, by and through Special Prosecuting Attorney Allison Schreiber Lee, hereby requests this Honorable Court to dismiss the pending indirect criminal contempt matter, for the reason that it no longer serves the interest of justice to continue with this matter as the defendant is no longer employed as the Circuit Attorney,” according to the motion filed Tuesday.
The case against former assistant prosecutor Chris Desilets was also dropped.
Judge Michael Noble signed Schreiber Lee’s motion, which is to dismiss the case without prejudice, according to court documents.
That means the special prosecutor can refile the charges at a later date.
A hearing was scheduled on the matter for May 30.
During an initial hearing in April, Noble called Gardner’s office a “rudderless ship of chaos,” before finding there was enough evidence to show Gardner and her former prosecutor should be charged with indirect criminal contempt.
Gardner did not appear at that hearing either.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office accused Gardner this week of working on a nursing degree during that hearing.
The contempt charges stemmed from a case in April. Judge Michael Noble said Desilets failed to appear at both a jury trial on April 10 and a status hearing two weeks later.
"Chris Desilets failed to appear for either appearance and failed to file a motion to continue," according to Noble's filing. "Furthermore, on the morning of trial on April 10, Mr. Desilets alleged, through another Assistant Circuit Attorney, that he had a medical issue.
"This Court has received no verification of any medical issue or appointment. Additionally, Mr. Desilets did not appear for the status conference on April 24 at which his alleged medical issues were to be discussed. This Court has received no information from the Circuit Attorney's Office regarding this matter, nor defense counsel."
At a later court date, Noble 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.
Now that neither Gardner nor Desilets remain in the circuit attorney's office, the special prosecutor found that "it no longer serves the interest of justice" to pursue the case.
Gardner stepped down Tuesday, weeks before previously expected. Governor Mike Parson named his general counsel Evan Rodriguez to oversee the office with help from the Missouri attorney general's office until a permanent replacement can be named.
Parson said he hopes to name a replacement by Friday.
Editor's note: A quote from the motion filed by Special Prosecuting Attorney Allison Schreiber Lee was originally attributed to Judge Michael Noble in this story's abstract. It has been correctly attributed to Schreiber Lee.