Lots of winners and losers in St. Louis – and Ferguson – politics and criminal justice this past week.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Attorney Robert McCulloch was a loser, along with one of his judicial allies. He got the rebuke so many have been dreaming of giving him over all these years when the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District ruled that Steven H. Goldman abused his discretion by removing a foreperson from a grand jury at McCulloch’s request. The higher court ordered the grand jury to be immediately adjourned.
Admittedly, McCulloch got something he wanted – the pesky grand juror he wanted removed is still gone – but he got the public humiliation of having lost an entire grand jury by tampering with it.
The grand juror, whose identity remains secret under conditions of the grand jury system, was selected to be the foreperson of the St. Louis County Grand Jury for the September 2015 term and served in that capacity for two weeks. That’s when Goldman dumped him at McCulloch’s request, though he met all of the requirements and no misconduct was alleged, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri asked the Missouri Court of Appeals to review the decision.
“It is disappointing that St. Louis County’s decision to put secret information about the grand jury’s proceedings into the public record will force the discharge of an entire grand jury that was acting independently,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.
Politics or performance?
Steve Roberts Jr. lost a job with St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce. His uncle and campaign manager – Roberts Jr. is running to succeed Joyce, who is not seeking reelection – Mike Roberts told the Post-Dispatch he was dismissed “out of the blue, without any explanation other than reference to political stuff.”
Joyce answered with a statement that Roberts Jr. was dismissed due to poor performance and after being “provided written notice of his performance issues” and meeting “dozens of times with his supervisors who worked diligently to help him succeed at the office.”
Joyce said she did not want to provide evidence of these written notices or meetings unless Roberts Jr. consented to a public airing of his personnel files.
Assistant prosecutor pleads to felony
Roberts Jr.’s losing his job – for whatever reason – is nothing in comparison to the shameful losses of two of his colleagues: Bliss Barber Worrell and Katherine Dierdorf. (Speaking of winning and losing, both are ballplayers’ daughters.)
Worrell pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey of the Eastern District of Missouri to misprision of a felony after she concealed her knowledge of a St. Louis police officers’ assault upon an arrestee. Dierdorf, who was fired by Joyce along with Worrell, is cooperating with federal investigators, according to a court source. The cop also lost his job.
Worrell admitted that she failed to notify authorities that on July 22, 2014, police officers assaulted an arrestee in their custody, and that she actively tried to conceal the felony. Worrell also admitted that she filed charges without disclosing knowledge of the assault to her colleagues, supervisors or the judge assigned to setting a bond. She admitted that she allowed the charges to stand despite later learning that the facts that made out the charge of attempted escape were fabricated to cover for injuries the arrestee sustained during the assault.
For all of this to come out, there must have been snitches in Joyce’s office who cooperated with federal investigators.
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Missouri, due to the recusal of the Eastern District of Missouri, because Worrell interned in that office. For the Western District to pick up this case after the Eastern District dropped it shows that someone on the eastern side of the state wanted to see this case prosecuted.
Ferguson arsonists in court
Two Ferguson arsonists were big losers, in federal and state court.
Antonio Whiteside was sentenced to five years in prison by U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on the federal charge stemming from arson at the Ferguson Supermarket on Ferguson grand jury decision night, November 24. Remember? When McCulloch announced no charges against Police Officer Darren Wilson at night, knowing that Ferguson protests got crazy at night when they got crazy at all. Whiteside pled guilty in April to one count of attempted arson.
Popular Ferguson protestor Josh Williams pled guilty in state court to the attempted arson of the QuikTrip in Berkeley (along with burglary and theft) during protests on December 23, after the police killing of Antonio Martin. His sentencing is on December 10 by St. Louis County Circuit Judge John D. Warner. McCulloch is prosecuting this case and sure to ask for no mercy. If you protested along with Josh and see potential in him, send an appeal for leniency to the court via his attorney of record, Nick Zotos, 4235 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis MO 63108-2915.
HSSU loses discrimination suit
Harris-Stowe State University was apparently a big loser in St. Louis Circuit Court. Beverly Wilkins, a white former instructor at the historically black institution, was awarded $4.85 million in a racial discrimination suit. She claimed she was discriminated against in decisions for promotion and dismissal on the basis of her race.
Open college trustee seat
Somebody is set to be a winner of an open seat on the St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees. It has received five applications for an interim trustee to fill a Subdistrict 1 vacancy. Subdistrict 1 includes the following school districts: Clayton, Ferguson-Florissant, Hazelwood, Jennings, Ladue, Normandy, Pattonville, Ritenour, Riverview Gardens, and University City.
The applicants are: Teresa Huether, former STLCC faculty and senior project associate; Keith Turner, president, CEO and senior technology consultant of Turngroup Technologies; Monique Abby, of the Abby Law Firm, LLC and prosecutor of the City of Riverview Municipal Court; Lisa Savoy, staff attorney at Maritz Motivation Solutions; and Derek Novel, retired educator.
The Subdistrict 1 seat became vacant following the resignation of Theodis Brown Sr. in the second year of his six-year term. Brown beat Redditt Hudson in a race it is still difficult to believe that Hudson could lose.
On November 19, the five remaining trustees will meet to appoint one person from the five applicants by majority vote to fill the vacancy until the next election, which will be held by the St. Louis Community College District on April 5. A trustee will then be elected for the remainder of the six-year term, which expires in 2020. If no applicant is appointed at the November meeting, the board will continue to accept applications and conduct interviews until the vacancy is filled.
You be the judge
The Twenty-Second Circuit Judicial Commission (City of St. Louis) is accepting applications for an associate circuit judge vacancy that will be created by Gov. Jay Nixon’s appointment of one of the three associate circuit judge finalists named to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Circuit Judge John F. Garvey.
Qualifications for associate circuit judges may be found in article V, section 21 of the Missouri Constitution. Application forms may be picked up in the Clerk’s Office at the Missouri Court of Appeals in the Old Post Office, 815 Olive Street, Room 304, St. Louis, Missouri. Applications are also available at www.courts.mo.go.
Applicants who previously applied for the Circuit vacancy created by Garvey’s retirement need only send a letter requesting their previous application be transferred to the current opening.
The members of the Twenty-Second Circuit Judicial Commission are: Lisa Van Amburg, chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District; Steven L. Groves; Thomas Neill; Rita L. Burlison; and Tiffany Mapp Franklin.
Applications and/or the letter must be received by each commissioner no later than 5 p.m. November 20.
New online crime report
Data buffs were winners when the Missouri State Highway Patrol posted a new online Crime In Missouri report on its website at www.mshp.dps.mo.gov. It’s somewhat hard to find. You must select “Statistics/Media,” then “Statistical Analysis Center” then finally “Crime In Missouri” (left side of web page). The data are derived from the Missouri Uniform Crime Reporting System and arranged by type (motor vehicle theft, arson, burglary, robbery, murder, etc.). Browsing under “hate crimes,” the data set looks incomplete, or maybe hate crimes are underreported. But this this is a good tool.
