ST. LOUIS — Lawyers say a ºüÀêÊÓƵ judge should dismiss the assault case of a local bar owner because city prosecutors have violated court rules by refusing to turn over key information about a cop with a history of bad behavior.
Attorney Javad Khazaeli said his client, local bar owner Chad Morris, is entitled to receive disciplinary records for the officers who arrested Morris last year on charges of assault and resisting arrest after police crashed an SUV into Morris’ popular gay bar, Bar:PM.
But prosecutors in ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore’s office have refused to even ask police to turn over the reports, Khazaeli’s law partner, James Wyrsch, wrote in a filing Tuesday. The filing says prosecutors should be sanctioned and the charges should be dropped.
“This is a major problem,†Khazaeli said.
Wyrsch’s filing comes roughly two months after Khazaeli filed lawsuits against the city and Officer Ramelle L. Wallace, who handcuffed Morris’ husband and business partner, James Pence, seconds after Wallace arrived on the scene where police crashed into the bar.
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Khazaeli argues Wallace has a history of bad behavior: Wallace was accused by a neighbor in 2010 of pushing her up against the trunk of a car and holding a gun to her stomach. Wallace also faced a lawsuit that settled with the city for $125,000 in which he was accused of handcuffing and beating a bystander at the scene of an assault.
In June 2023, Khazaeli said Wallace body-slammed and choked a man in the booking area of the city jail. Prosecutors initially charged the man who was beaten, but the case was eventually dismissed.
“The Circuit Attorney’s office has direct knowledge of Officer Wallace’s penchant for using excessive force and making up probable cause to justify his illegal behavior,†the filing says.
A spokeswoman for the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney’s Office called the motion “one-sided†in an email and said the office planned to file a response.
But in an email attached to Wyrsch’s filing, a prosecutor said the police department would likely refuse to turn over officer personnel records until a judge ordered them to do it.
“My diligence may require the court’s involvement,†the prosecutor wrote, according to the filing. “Nevertheless, we’ll be working on it.â€
Wyrsch wrote that the refusal to ask police for the materials or keep records on bad cops were examples of the circuit attorney “shirking his prosecutorial responsibilities.â€
The Bar:PM crash happened at around 12:30 a.m. Dec. 18, 2023, when a rookie officer slammed into Morris’ bar at 7109 S. Broadway.
Pence was in bed in the apartment he and Morris own above the bar and came downstairs to see what happened. Wallace handcuffed him and accused him of causing a disturbance, Pence’s lawsuit says.
Morris then arrived on the scene and asked why his husband was handcuffed. Officers took Pence down the gangway at the side of the bar, and Morris followed. The lawsuit says officers beat Morris. Charges say Morris pushed one officer and then tried to run away.
Morris was arrested and released from jail the following day, but the incident stirred public outrage. Khazaeli later shared a video of the police SUV driving down South Broadway, running a red light and swerving unexpectedly before slamming into the building.
A hearing in Morris’ case is set for next week.