ST. LOUIS — St. Louis area lawyer Mark McCloskey, who took a plea deal and was pardoned after waving guns at social justice demonstrators in 2020, is asking to have his conviction expunged.
The request, filed Tuesday, asks for McCloskey's fourth-degree assault charge to be wiped off his record.
Mark McCloskey and his wife Patricia made headlines in June 2020 when they were seen in videos and photos pointing guns at protestors who were marching to the home of then-St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house to call for her resignation.
No shots were fired and no one was hurt.
In October 2020, the McCloskeys were charged with unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution.
Both agreed to a plea deal that reduced the charges to one count of each of misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. In the plea agreement, they were ordered to hand over the guns used in the initial incident, a Colt AR-15 rifle and Bryco pistol, and ordered to pay a $750 fine to cover court costs.
Less than a month later, they were pardoned by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.
In 2021, Mark McCloskey filed a lawsuit arguing that the pardon he and his wife received from Parson nullified all judgments and orders in the case.
St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Joan Moriarty on Wednesday ruled that the pardon had "no bearing whatsoever on any of the terms of the negotiated plea agreement."
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