ST. LOUIS — Six-thousand-seven-hundred cases that police sent to prosecutors that weren’t even looked at – including rapes, assaults and nine homicides.
Two-hundred-and-fifty pending homicide cases – when there should be about 100 to 150 at any given time.
Twenty-five attorneys – when the office has a budget for 60.
That's what Gabe Gore was facing after his appointment to St. Louis Circuit Attorney following Kim Gardner’s abrupt resignation amid criticism that she was not fulfilling her duties.
Here's what Gore says those numbers look like now, six months after Gov. Mike Parson appointed him to lead the office:
- 4,200 cases in the backlog, which now only includes lower-level felonies and misdemeanors.
- 200 pending homicide cases – after private firms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and new prosecutors have resolved 53 pending cases.
- 49 attorneys.
“When I stood at this podium six months ago and spoke to you, I told you that we understood that failure was not an option in our effort to restore the Circuit Attorney’s Office’s critical role in the criminal justice system,” he said. “I report to you today that our office has retaken its place in the criminal justice system.”
Gore said his administration has prosecuted 45% more cases during his six months than were prosecuted during the same six-month period in 2022.
“We've returned to the practice of charging cases when they're submitted, when they're applied for and making very timely charging decisions and getting those cases issued,” he said. “There's no type of crime that we are looking the other way on.
“We are enforcing the laws. We don't think and we don't accept the notion that if as a citizen of the City of St. Louis, you have to accept a certain amount of property crime or what people would refer to as petty crime as a cost of living in a city. We reject that notion.”
Gore also said he’s added 14 members to support staff, which is helping reduce the number of discovery delays that were “crippling” the office’s ability to move cases forward.
He said he has rebuilt relationships with the mayor’s office and the St. Louis Police Department. He said his staff is currently reviewing 24 homicide cases Gardner’s administration refused to issue charges on that homicide detectives believe have merit.
Mayor Tishaura Jones’ administration has provided IT help to bring technology in the office up-to-date following “years of neglect.”
Gore balanced his law-and-order tone with some progressive ideas, too.
He announced retired Judge George Draper III is going to lead a Conviction Integrity Unit inside the office to review cases that might need a second look. Currently, the unit is reviewing three cases, but Gore would not say which ones.
He also said he’s planning to significantly boost the office’s focus on diversion programs, which give low-level offenders alternatives to prison sentences and a chance to “redirect their lives and not become habitual participants in the criminal justice system.”
Gardner often touted her diversion program as a success. Gore said when he took office, there were only 40 participants, a number he hopes to boost to between 250 to 400 in the next six months.
“We believe that our investments in diversion are going to pay dividends is because the data tells us that diversion works, it is successful in redirecting individuals into a more productive, more productive lifestyle and not a life of crime,” Gore said. “Our focus needs to be on that small group of individuals who are committing the vast majority of the violent crime that plagues our community.
“And the diversion program plays an important role in helping us accomplish that.”
One goal Gore admitted is taking longer than he had hoped is the review of the conviction of Christopher Dunn. In her last act in office, Gardner asked a court to set aside Dunn's conviction. He's spent 33 years in prison for a killing he says he didn't commit, after witnesses who testified against him later said authorities had pressured them to lie.
In her request to overturn Dunn's first-degree murder conviction, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner cited “clear and convincing evidence” that he had not been involved in the 1990 shooting death of Ricco Rogers.
Gore appointed retired Judge Booker Shaw to review the case and hoped to have a decision before the end of the year. He said a decision is now expected sometime early next year.
Gore also said he also believes the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office is now on track to become one of the premier prosecuting attorney’s offices in the country.
So, does that track include Gore running to remain at the helm?
“That consideration has increased and has taken on more prominence in recent weeks,” he said. “I am doing the work to determine whether or not that's something that I want to pursue.
“I will tell you that I have enjoyed this work immensely. I've enjoyed my colleagues. I've enjoyed the progress we've made. I am very pleased with the trajectory the office is on. And the final part of my decision process is just trying to make the decision as to whether or not I want to be a political candidate. It is not something that I ever sought out and never thought that that's something that I would pursue. And the circumstances here present a scenario where it's something that I have to seriously consider, and I'm in the process of doing that.”
Gardner can also still run for office, and said she planned to before her resignation.
She has not returned phone calls from 5 On Your Side, so it’s unclear whether that’s still her plan.
