In letter to judge, grand jurors who indicted William Tisaby slam Gardner’s actions

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) -- Seven grand jurors who indicted a private investigator in the St. Louis case against Governor Eric Greitens have now penned a letter slamming the actions of Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.

The letter was sent April 20th to Judge Rex Burlison, who presided over the Greitens case, and is addressed to a panel that has investigated Gardner for ethical violations. That panel is currently weighing whether to accept Gardner’s settlement agreement in that ethical proceeding and agree to place a formal reprimand on her law license.

“During our eight months of Special Grand Jury service, our investigation resulted in the indictment of an individual who was very closely associated with Ms. Gardner,” the letter reads. “Our work exposed us to activity and behaviors in the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office that we considered disturbing and unethical. What we observed was not inadvertent nor inconsequential but was calculated deceit and/or outright incompetence; neither of which is acceptable behavior for a person holding this public office.”

The letter is reportedly signed by seven of the grand jurors who investigated and ultimately indicted the private investigator hired by Gardner, William Don Tisaby. They choose to remain anonymous and expressed concern to Judge Burlison that they did not want to violate their oath of secrecy in the grand jury investigation.

But they state they are “extremely disappointed” in the joint stipulation agreement recommended by the Missouri Office of Disciplinary Counsel, following a bar complaint on Gardner’s law license.

“We urge you to consider much stronger disciplinary action in this case. We firmly believe such action is warranted,” they wrote.

“The individual we indicted was accused of many crimes, however, he was a private citizen. In our opinion, Ms. Gardner’s offenses were markedly worse. As a lawyer sworn to uphold the law and as a public servant voted to the city’s highest prosecutorial office, her behavior should be beyond reproach. Yet her disregard for the law, as detailed in both the Special Grand Jury indictment as well as in the ethics charges, is reprehensible. Our assignment as jurors was to investigate the indicted but our efforts revealed prosecutorial misconduct we believed were likely indictable as well. The fact that an ethics review was pending suggested that Ms. Gardner would indeed face severe and appropriate consequences,”

A spokesperson for the courts said no one from the court had forwarded the letter to the Disciplinary Panel. The letter was provided to News 4 in a Sunshine Law request.

Here’s a statement from the Circuit Attorney’s Office:

Below are the letters as they were sent to the court:

• Attachment To April 20, 2022, Email - Dated April 12, 2022
• Email To Hon. Rex M. Burlison Dated April 20, 2022 (REDACTED)

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