ST. LOUIS — Less than three weeks after being sworn in as the newest St. Louis circuit attorney, Gabe Gore sat down with 5 On Your Side to talk about his first 16 days in office.
"I think things are going really well," Gore told 5 On Your Side's Justina Coronel.
That's because he said he's been able to hire his senior staff in that time period. Ten attorneys have joined the office since Gore took over on May 30.
The following attorneys are joining the circuit attorney’s office:
- Christopher Faerber
- Allison Schreiber Lee
- Terrence J. O’Toole, Jr.
- Bret M. Rich
- Sherry Wolk
Four other experienced prosecutors are on loan from neighboring counties.
"We added the experience of attorneys who've tried 150 felony trials collectively and that's what we need," Gore said. "Now, we have the people in place who know what it takes to get a conviction in court."
Just this week, two people started important roles in the office: the Chief of the Homicide Unit and the Chief of the Warrant Office.
Mary Pat Carl worked for the circuit attorney's office for 14 years, including two years in the current role she's in, which is the lead homicide prosecutor.
"We clearly needed a top-notch homicide prosecutor and we accomplished that by having Mary Pat Carl on board," Gore shared.
Retired judge and 5 On Your Side legal analyst Nanette Baker believes this was a good move.
"I thought it was an important decision to have that experience and respect from other assistant circuit attorneys and judges. It’s a really good sign," Baker said.
Steven Capizzi is serving as Chief Warrant Officer and Gore said he is already hitting the ground running to clear the backlog in the warrant office.
"What we've had in this office, in the past, was a drain of senior experienced attorneys who can try the most serious cases like homicides," he said.
Now, his team needs to clear out 215 pending homicide cases. Gore noted some of these have been stagnant for three to four years.
Baker said she wasn't surprised to hear this.
"Some of the problems they've had are because of the pandemic and issues with the previous office. But I think most cases, those backlogs, have been cleared," Baker said. "We’re not seeing three-year-old cases in the federal system or the county, so some of it had to be with the previous administration, the fact that they didn’t have enough lawyers."
Going through those cases, Gore said they'll have to make some tough decisions.
Last week, a St. Louis judge dismissed a triple murder case from 2020. This is the second time these charges have been dropped for 21-year-old Joshua Amerson.
"We essentially had no witnesses because it was a failure of the witnesses to cooperate and their testimony was excluded from trial. It was our assessment going forward that the one witness wasn’t sufficient to meet our burden," Gore said.
Exactly a week later, Amerson is now accused of fleeing from St. Louis County police in a stolen Jeep, in which officers claim they found a gun and 800 pill capsules of fentanyl.
St. Louis County prosecutors have charged Amerson with resisting/interfering with arrest, unlawful use of a weapon and drug trafficking.
His bail has been set at $200,000 cash only.
"As we go through the backlog of cases, there’s going to be a number of cases dismissed due to lack of evidence at time of trial. We’re going to have to make tough decisions to dismiss those cases. As a prosecutor, it is unethical and improper to seek a conviction when you know on the outside you don’t have evidence to support the case," Gore said. "In essence, that process was delayed during the prior administration and those tough decisions weren't being made. So, we are making them now and it's the only way to work through these cases."
Gore added on by saying that the team is going to focus on case assessment to see which cases will be tried, face a plea deal or be dismissed.
Gore thinks they're already doing the work.
Just this week, their team saw some progress from another murder case in 2020.
"We were very pleased to get a murder first conviction in that case, hopefully, the first of many," Gore said.
It was a case against 51-year-old Kennice Brock who shot Carl Netter to death during a neighborhood barbecue. The conviction carries an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole.
"The facts were clear. The victim was in the process to de-escalate the situation and the victim was shot in cold blood," Gore said.
Now, Gore aims to tackle more cases by recruiting more.
That's why he is in support of a proposed bill, which would increase salaries.
St. Louis Alderwoman Cara Spencer proposed the bill, it would boost salaries for assistant circuit attorneys and it has an emergency clause, which means it would take effect immediately if approved.
The average raise percentage across the categories of employees included in the proposed bill is about 15%.
The bill would also give Gore the ability to add an additional 10% to the maximum salary for employees in the affected categories.
Gore said while many prosecutors do the job to help the public, the extra funds could be a way to be competitive.
"The legal profession, it's competitive in terms of getting people with skills that we need to join us," he said.
At the end of the interview, Gore thanked the community for their support and encouragement. He also thanked them for their patience.
"I want to thank everyone for their patience as we work through. It’s going to take time and everyone that has gotten on board is enthusiastic, they're eager to get to work and get back on track," Gore said.