ST. LOUIS — A judge on Thursday announced he will appoint a special prosecutor to build a contempt case against ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner and one of her assistants after they failed to show up for a pair of court dates in an assault case.
Judge Michael Noble said evidence suggested Gardner and her assistant, Christopher Desilets, were guilty of indirect criminal contempt after Desilets didn't show up for a scheduled trial and a subsequent hearing earlier this week.
Gardner's office appears to be a "rudderless ship of chaos†that forces attorneys to handle untenable caseloads, Noble said.
"It appears that Ms. Gardner has complete indifference and a conscious disregard for the judicial process," he said.
Gardner was not in court for Thursday’s hearing but sent a deputy, Rob Huq, in her place. Huq was unable to give many answers to a barrage of questions from Noble about Desilets’ conduct, the office’s victim notifications, and whether the office had investigated its failures to appear.
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Gardner’s attorney, Michael Downey, was also present. He declined comment after the hearing.
Noble’s decision marked the latest legal controversy for Gardner, whose office has been criticized for years for understaffing and dysfunction. Those issues reached a boiling point in recent months when the handling of a robbery case sparked calls for Gardner’s resignation. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit seeking her removal.
Then, on Monday, Noble ordered Gardner to show cause for why she shouldn’t be held in contempt over the case of Steven L. Vincent Jr. 28, who faces nine charges, including first-degree assault, after police say he shot a gun in the city’s Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood and hit an apartment building, striking an 11-year-old girl in the arm as she sat in a bedroom.
His trial was supposed to begin on April 10, but Desilets did not appear. Another prosecutor told Noble at the hearing that Desilets was dealing with a medical issue and was on his way to the doctor’s office. Noble set a status hearing for two weeks later.
But on that date — Monday — Desilets did not appear again.
He told Noble on Thursday that he had to take care of business in front of another judge for a trial setting that morning, but once he finished up there, he showed up to Noble’s courtroom and the doors were locked.
Noble asked Desilets why he didn’t inform the court that he was running late, and Desilets said it is common practice in ºüÀêÊÓƵ courts for attorneys to bounce between judges and divisions for hearings on any given day. Many people regularly show up late, he said.
“It’s really not unusual,†he said.
But staffing shortages in Gardner’s office have made such waiting periods more frequent. Multiple prosecutors have stepped down in recent weeks, leaving fewer and less experienced attorneys to pick up their cases.
In one case, Judge Scott Millikan filed last week to hold Gardner in contempt after nobody from her office showed up for the first day of a murder trial. The prosecutor assigned to the case was on leave.
Millikan declined to hold Gardner in contempt but lamented that the case “fell through the cracks.â€
On Thursday, Noble also focused on those failings, noting that a caseload like Desilets’, which included nearly 105 felonies, is likely to create “countless, irreconcilable conflicts†with hearings and trials. He blamed Gardner for not staying on top of it.
“It does not appear (Gardner) has made any reasonable efforts to prevent the resulting chaos,†he said.
Noble said he will allow Gardner and Desilets to retain attorneys and seek evidence to defend themselves against the contempt charge.
If they are found in contempt, they could face jail time and/or a fine.
A hearing in the case is set for 9:30 a.m. on May 30.Â