Back in court in the case of the State of Missouri vs. Eric Greitens on March 5, the District 16 circuit judge ruled on several motions, including a decision to call 160 potential jurors in the governor’s high-profile felony case for invasion of privacy.
Attorney Mark Sable, on behalf of 10 media organizations, filed a motion to intervene in the case by asking the judge to give media organizations advance notice of hearings or other proceedings in the case.
“Any activity is of public interest in a case of this nature,” Sable said.
Attorneys for both Greitens and the Circuit Attorney’s Office agreed to the idea as long as grand jury proceedings remained under seal.
Circuit Judge Rex Burlison said he normally holds informal hearings whenever both parties are available, but he understood the compelling public interest in this case.
Burlison decided to establish set availability on two days of the week for less formal proceedings in the case. These periods will take place from 9 to 10 a.m. on Monday and Thursday while the case is in progress.
Greitens’ lawyers also motioned for the state attorney’s office to turn over what they believed was additional relevant evidence in the case.
In criminal cases, the prosecution is required to turn over to the defense any information that could be exculpatory for their client. Since the Circuit Attorney’s Office in this case hired private detectives to investigate rather than conducting a police investigation, the defense asked for the prosecution to turn over all of the investigator’s notes.
“We haven’t even been provided the addresses of the identified witnesses, and we still don’t have transcripts from the grand jury,” one of Greitens’ lawyers said.
Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner asked for a protective order preventing the addresses of witnesses being given to third parties, but the defense wanted the ability to give that information to their own investigators.
Burlison asked the parties to agree to a court order that the addresses should not be given to anyone outside of those directly working on the case, to which they agreed.
The Circuit Attorney’s Office also agreed to turn over all relevant evidence now and any further evidence they require within 48 hours. The defense will be allowed to subpoena information from all witnesses, including private investigators, 48 hours before their depositions.
The judge also required the defense to disclose any expert witnesses they currently intend to call by the end of March, and any others by April 10.
Burlison said he would rule on any difficulties that arose but trusted both parties to fulfill their obligations.
“I am working on my assumptions that everybody’s gonna follow the law,” Burlison said.
The court also discussed the jury proceedings, expected to be lengthy and complicated due to the high-profile nature of the criminal prosecution of a governor.
Potential jurors in a “complex” case such as this are required to be notified six weeks ahead of time. The Circuit Attorney’s Office proposed calling around 120 jurors to narrow down to a pool of at least 36 which are qualified, leading to a final jury of 12 members and 2 alternates.
Burlison decided to call a total of 160 potential jurors, who will be questioned on their qualifications on May 10 and 11 before the expected May 14 trial start date.
“We’ll bring them in groups of 40, because that’s about all we can get into the courtroom,” Burlison said.
Burlison also raised the question of potentially sequestering the jury, keeping them isolated from the public for the 3 to 5 days the trial is expected to take.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Gardner said.
Greitens’ attorneys said they would need to consult with their client before offering an opinion. Burlison will decide whether to sequester the jury in the near future.
