Gardner responds to Missouri AG’s attempt to oust her

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has filed a response to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s motion for her removal.

Gardner filed the response along with a motion to dismiss Bailey’s petition Tuesday night. The deadline for her to respond was midnight. Gardner is also asking that she remain in office until the motion to dismiss is resolved.

It comes amid calls for Gardner to step down in the aftermath of an accident that left 17-year-old Janae Edmondson severely injured; both her legs were amputated. The suspect in the accident, Daniel Riley, was out on bond at the time of the accident on a charge of robbery. He wasn’t supposed to be driving because he did not have a valid license. Riley was also on house arrest and had violated the conditions of his bond more than 100 times.

In Gardner’s motion, she denied some of the allegations leveled against her by Bailey’s office, claiming they do not serve as a lawful reason for her removal, adding that Bailey must prove intentional failure to act or willful negligence.

“The inescapable conclusion from these cases is that a forfeiture of office proceeding is not a vehicle for inserting the courts into a political difference of opinion about how a prosecutor’s office should be run,” Gardner’s response reads. “Such a proceeding is not a forum for complaining about mistakes by a circuit attorney’s office. Rather the question is whether the prosecutor was intentionally acting with a corrupt purpose. Mr. Bailey’s allegations don’t meet that standard. The petition should be dismissed.”

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