Kimberly M. Gardner (born August 2, 1975) is an American politician and attorney from the state of Missouri. She was the circuit attorney for the city of St. Louis, Missouri. She previously served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives.
In February 2023, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey requested that Gardner resign after a serial criminal who had violated house arrest 51 times caused a teenage girl to lose both of her legs. In July 2022, the suspect in question had been in court, ready to be tried as a suspect of an armed robbery that had happened in 2020, but Gardner's office was not prepared for the trial, so Gardner's staff dismissed the charges and refiled them the same day. After the incident, several members of the Board of Aldermen also asked for Gardner to resign, and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones stated that Gardner "needs to do some soul searching on whether or not she wants to continue with circuit attorney because she's lost the trust of the people".
On May 4, 2023, Gardner officially resigned as Circuit Attorney of St. Louis. She announced her resignation would be effective June 1, but ended up stepping down early on May 16.
Early life and education Gardner was born in 1975 and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Her family runs a funeral home in North St. Louis, at which she also worked. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in healthcare administration from Harris–Stowe State University in 1999. She then earned a Juris Doctor from the Saint Louis University School of Law in 2003 and a Master of Science in nursing from Saint Louis University in 2012.
Career
Pre-public life and State Rep. Gardner worked at Bell, Kirksey & Associates, a law firm, and as an assistant prosecutor (St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office, 2005–2010) prior to being elected as Circuit Attorney. From 2013 to 2017 she was a Missouri State Representative for District 77.
Circuit attorney Gardner took office on January 6, 2017. She is the first African-American to head the Circuit Attorney's Office. In 2019, St. Louis police sought 7,045 felony cases, but only 1,641 were prosecuted by Gardner's office. Many were returned to the police citing insufficient evidence, despite claims of sufficient evidence to prosecute by the police union.
Gardner continued the prosecution of former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department police officer Jason Stockley for first degree murder in the shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith, a case first filed by her predecessor Jennifer Joyce. The acquittal in the bench trial in a decision by Judge Timothy Wilson led to intense protests in the latter months of 2017.
As Circuit Attorney, Gardner removed or reduced the amount of cash required for bonds for minor, nonviolent offenses. She also expanded diversion and drug court programs, and consulted with the Vera Institute of Justice on these issues. She promised to end prosecutions of low-level marijuana possession and dismiss many such cases. During Gardner's tenure, the CAO shared a federal grant to work with the Midwest Innocence Project on wrongful convictions.
Staff turnover and shortage The Circuit Attorney's Office experienced a more than 100% turnover rate in staff since Gardner took office. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in September 2019 that "over 65 attorneys with a combined experience of over 460 years in prosecutorial experience" have left the Circuit Attorney's office under Gardner.
Grand jury process Kim Gardner's office charged defendants under direct complaint and then used the grand jury process to delay the preliminary hearing. The average wait was 344 days as of March 2021. The Missouri Supreme Court changed the rules on preliminary hearings effective March 1, 2021, to that "courts must hold preliminary hearings within 30 days of felony complaints being filed if a defendant is in jail, and within 60 days if not". Kim Gardner's continued use of the grand jury process circumvented the Supreme Court's attempt at reform.
Controversies
Eric Greitens investigation and indictment Kim Gardner's office secured a grand jury indictment of sitting Missouri Governor Eric Greitens in February 2018, for felony invasion of privacy. On April 20, 2018, Gardner's office announced a new charge of tampering with computer data against Greitens. Then Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley had the opportunity to prosecute but declined to do so. In May 2018, the judge in the Greitens case ruled that the defense could call Gardner as a witness due to suspected criminal conduct by the prosecution. Following the judge's ruling, Gardner's office announced that they would be dismissing the invasion of privacy charge, citing that Gardner could not testify in a case her office was prosecuting. Following Greitens' announcement that he planned to resign as Governor, Gardner announced that all charges against Greitens would be dropped.
On May 15, 2018, Greitens' attorneys filed a police report with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department alleging perjury by William Don Tisaby, an ex-FBI agent and private investigator that Gardner hired to investigate Greitens. Defense attorneys also cited $100,000 in secret cash payments to witnesses, payments they stated were concealed from the defense team by Gardner, as well as numerous meetings between the Circuit Attorney and William Tisaby, and "a major witness in the case". In a statement regarding the police report, defense attorneys said that, "By law, both the Circuit Attorney and William Tisaby were required to testify about what was said and done in those secret meetings. Both refused to do so." Tisaby asserted his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in response to over 50 questions.
Special prosecutor investigation On June 29, 2018, St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Mullen appointed St. Louis attorney Gerard Carmody as special prosecutor to investigate allegations of criminal misconduct in the case against Governor Eric Greitens. Gardner appealed the appointment of a special prosecutor to the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled that Gardner had a conflict of interest in the case and upheld Mullen's appointment of Carmody. The Missouri Supreme Court also rejected an appeal from Gardner's office seeking to block a search warrant signed by Mullen for the files of Gardner's office; the court ordered Gardner to turn over servers requested by Carmody.
On June 17, 2019, a 30-page grand jury indictment was unsealed against William Don Tisaby, the private investigator hired by Gardner to investigate Greitens, charging him with six counts of felony perjury and one count of felony tampering with evidence. The indictment alleges that Tisaby lied under oath about "matters that could substantially affect, or did substantially affect, the course or outcome of the Greitens case" (specifically, about his contacts with a major witness in the case and the nature of those conversations) and had concealed documents from defense attorneys. Tisaby pleaded not guilty. In June 2019, Tisaby's attorney told reporters that "Ms. Gardner is probably the actual target here, not Mr. Tisaby." Although Gardner was not indicted, the indictment against Tisaby stated that Gardner "failed to correct Tisaby's lies, failed to report them to police, and made incorrect statements to defense lawyers and the judge".
On July 10, 2019, the grand jury disbanded without charging Gardner. The next day, Gardner held a press conference denying any wrongdoing in Greitens's case (her first public statement on the matter since the appointment of the special prosecutor, as a gag order had been placed on the case for the duration of the grand jury) and saying it was time for the city to "move on".
Following the press conference, special prosecutor Carmody took the unusual step of putting out a statement clarifying that the grand jury disbanded because its term expired, not because the investigation was complete. Carmody announced that despite the original grand jury's conclusion, his investigation would continue, pointing out his authority to seat a new grand jury to review any evidence relating to Gardner's conduct.
Tisaby's motion to dismiss the indictment against him was denied by St. Louis Circuit Judge Bryan Hettenbach, who also placed a protective order on approximately 4,000 documents at Carmody's request to protect the privacy of some parties involved in the Greitens case and the integrity of "an active criminal investigation" focused on the failed prosecution of Greitens.
On July 2, 2021, Judge Bryan Hettenbach approved Carmody's withdrawal from the case and appointed Johnson County prosecutor Robert Russell to the case. The court ordered the city of St. Louis to pay Russell's expenses. Judge Bryan Hettenbach also denied Tisaby's attorneys' motion to dismiss the case and the sanctioning of Carmody for allegedly not providing transcripts.
On March 23, 2022, Tisaby pled guilty to misdemeanor evidence tampering and he was ordered to spend a year on probation. Tisaby admitted to failing to give Greiten's lawyers documents including his notes during an interview with the women involved in the case. His attorney, Jermaine Wooten, stated that Tisaby pled guilty after taking his health into account, the attorney stating he was not sure Tisaby could withstand a full jury trial.
Misconduct Probe It was published on May 4, 2021, that the Missouri's State Disciplinary Counsel found probable cause that during the Greitens prosecution, Gardner committed professional misconduct. Gardner will face a disciplinary panel and any possible punishment will be decided by the Missouri Supreme Court which could range from admonishment to the suspension or revocation of her law license. An expert on prosecutorial misconduct, Professor Bennett Gershman, described the case as "startling" and an unusual invocation of Brady v. Maryland, on which the record focuses.
On April 11, 2022, Gardner's disciplinary hearing was heard. Gardner admitted to wrongdoing during the hearing and agreed to a 40-page stipulation that stated how notes and a recording were not given to Greiten's defense team. The stipulation recommends to reprimand Gardner which will go on her license forever. Gardner claimed during the hearing that the St. Louis Police Department refused to "step in" to investigate the claims, a claim Chief John Hayden Jr. has repeatedly denied. The three person ethics panel will have 30 days to decide whether to accept the agreement and then the Missouri Supreme Court will have the final say on whether to punish Gardner and what the punishment will be if any.
Exclusion list In summer 2018, a spokesperson for the CAO announced the existence of an "exclusion list" (similar to a "Brady list" in other jurisdictions) of 28 SLMPD officers whose conduct is considered so tainted by misconduct that the CAO would no longer accept testimony or evidence in court cases and would reconsider past cases. Fifty-five prosecutors and law enforcement officials from across the United States signed a statement supporting Gardner's Brady List. Gardner, in February 2019, announced that the CAO and police department are working together on problems stemming from the list. In January 2019, Gardner's office accused officers within SLMPD of obstructing their investigation in the shooting death of officer Katlyn Alix by officer Nathaniel R. Hendren, one of two officers charged with crimes relating to the incident, which resulted in a sharp rebuke by Chief John Hayden.
Traffic stop controversy