ST. LOUIS — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, in a motion filed late Wednesday night, asked a judge to grant him additional time to present new evidence against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and requested a June trial date in his lawsuit against her.
Bailey's lawsuit against Gardner, filed on Feb. 23 in the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court, seeks to remove her from her elected office for "failing to perform her job as the chief law enforcement officer of the City of St. Louis and her knowing failure to protect the people of St. Louis."
Bailey's call for Gardner's removal came as pressure mounted against her office after a 17-year-old volleyball player was critically injured in a crash caused by a suspect who was supposed to be on house arrest.
In the most recent filing, Bailey and his legal team said they wish to amend their quo warranto petition to include "additional, significant information" against Gardner, including witness testimony, analysis of court files and statistical data, that was discovered after the petition was filed last month.
In a response filed Thursday night, Gardner said Bailey would not have to request changes to the original quo warranto petition if Bailey's office wasn't rushing the process to "take advantage of a tragedy for political gain, while ignoring the will of the voters.”
The Missouri Supreme Court appointed Judge John P. Torbitzky of the Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals to preside over the case. If the judge grants Bailey's motion, the deadline for his team to file the amended petition would be Tuesday, March 21.
Gardner's lawyers argued that the judge should deny a request to make changes until Bailey "tenders his intended amendments" and address Gardner's motions to dismiss the quo warranto petition and stay discovery.
Bailey's filing came about 24 hours after Gardner filed her response to the petition and asked a judge to dismiss it altogether.
Read Bailey's full motion below:
Gardner's response can be read below:
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