ST. LOUIS — Judge Scott Millikan used a lot of words Monday to describe St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her office’s conduct after no one from the prosecutor’s office showed up for a first-degree murder trial in his courtroom a week ago – but “criminal contempt” was not among them.
Millikan said the bar is high when it comes to fining someone, holding them in jail or both for contempt of court. He said the list of internal communications Gardner’s attorney submitted along with the statements Assistant Circuit Attorney Alex Polta made Monday show an office in disarray – but not an office or a prosecutor purposefully missing trials.
Gardner did not attend the hearing, but her attorney, Michael Downey, did.
As soon as he entered the courtroom, Polta ordered Downey and Assistant Circuit Attorney Rob Huq to leave the prosecutor’s table.
“Get over there,” he told them, pointing to the public defender’s table.
They then sat on a bench behind the public defender. Polta then laid out four prescription bottles on the table and used them to explain how he notified Gardner’s office he was taking a medical leave for an upper respiratory infection weeks before the trial in question was to take place and the office did not assign anyone to the case in his place.
“There really is no excuse for nobody showing up for trial, nothing is more important than showing up to court on time,” Polta told the judge.
“And I would say there really is no crime more serious than first-degree murder in the United States,” Millikan said. “I’m just trying to bring some semblance of order to this circuit.”
The case in question centers on the murder of Brandon Scott in September 2021. His mother, aunt, sister and cousin attended Monday’s hearing.
“It's like they took the case and put it on the back burner, like no one thought anything about it until this incident came about where Kim Gardner started getting into trouble,” said Felicia Cooper, Scott’s aunt. “Otherwise, I believe if the incident hadn't have come out about Kim, none of this ever would have ever came to the courts whatsoever. So I honestly believe that since Kim did what she did and all this came to the light, it’s for everyone to know what's exactly going on in Kim's office.”
Scott was out celebrating his completion of commercial driver’s license classes in September 2021 when he was shot to death during what his family believes was a road rage incident. Jonathan Jones and two other people – a woman and a man named Mark Perry – were arrested for his murder. The woman was never charged, but Perry was charged with first-degree murder.
Jones was 16 at the time. His public defender, Cecelia Appleberry, asked Millikan Monday to dismiss the case for failure to prosecute or at least allow her client to be released on bond after his constitutional right to a speedy trial were violated by the circuit attorney’s office.
“This was not slipping through the cracks judge, this was wanton disregard,” Appleberry said. “There was no communication about this case from the circuit attorney’s office.”
Millikan said the lack of communication was the aspect about the case that troubled him the most.
“Not communicating with me is one thing, but I find it a little more disappointing that she was not notified,” Millikan said to Polta. “I understand there is a lot of stress and a lot of pressure in that office right now, but at the end of the day, not only are the assistant circuit attorneys responsible but Kim Gardner is responsible to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do.”
Millikan refused to dismiss the case and refused Appleberry’s request for bond, saying the seriousness of the charges weighed heavily in his decision to keep the now 18-year-old incarcerated despite the speedy trial deadline approaching Wednesday.
“My fear is if I dismiss this case, the circuit attorney’s office is just going to refile it and start the clock over, maybe pushing a trial out until the end of this year if not next year and that’s not good for anyone including your client,” Millikan said.
Scott’s family said he left behind two children – one of whom was only two months old when he was killed. Scott was 29 years old.
Scott’s family has since moved to Georgia because they said they fear Scott’s killers might try to hurt them, too. They traveled to St. Louis for the trial, but a Victim Services representative from Gardner’s office told them three days before the trial was to begin that the trial was not happening.
They stayed in St. Louis and learned no one showed up for the trial from television news.
Scott’s mother, Lana Morris, said the family wanted to make a statement to the court, but Polta would not allow them to, saying, “That’s not what this is about.”
Millikan also noted Monday how Jones was among several teens who escaped from the city’s juvenile center when he was 17. He was never charged, so the judge said he could not take that into consideration.
Polta said the circuit attorney’s office doesn’t have access to juvenile records.
Scott’s sister, April Scott, said the only peace the family walked away with following Monday’s hearing was the judge’s comments.
“He knew about that escape so that just goes to show he’s paying attention,” Scott said.
Millikan also set a new trial date for June 5, saying he only cared about Appleberry's schedule and not the circuit attorney's office.
"I expect someone to be here from that office," Millikan said.
The woman who was also initially arrested for Scott’s murder also attended Monday’s hearing. Jones’ public defender said she was willing to provide housing for Jones should he be released on bond.
The other man arrested in this case, Mark Perry, is now a wanted man. In December 2021, now retired Judge Michael Mullen allowed Perry to be put on house arrest with GPS monitoring.
Judge Michael Noble revoked his bond April 14 and issued a warrant for his arrest following multiple violations of that bond.