In a lengthy and impressively lucid letter to Rep. Jay Barnes, chairman of the House Special Investigative Committee on the Greitens affair, Attorney Ed Dowd writes, “This matter is almost entirely about the alleged taking of an alleged photograph. However, there is no photograph.”
Dowd wrote the letter on Friday, April 6, to alert Barnes that if the committee proceeds to release its report before Greitens goes on trial, the report “will almost certainly contain information that will–in the course of the coming days and weeks–be publicly proven to be incorrect.” The reason why is that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner filed a motion in court that prevented the Greitens team from sharing exculpatory information with the House committee.
In her race to get the case before the grand jury, Dowd argues, Gardner has embarrassed her office and damaged her case. The House committee, he implies, runs the risk of doing the same.
Dowd adds detail to the numerous irregularities of the case. For instance, it was known that Gardner circumvented the St. Louis police to hire an out-of-state private investigator, William Tisaby. Dowd adds that Tisaby “had been found to have violated Alabama law by committing bigamy, lied to the FBI, he was demoted by the FBI for misconduct, and he perjured himself in his deposition.”
It was known that Gardner hired an out-of-state legal counsel, Ronald Sullivan, despite the fact that Sullivan cannot serve as a prosecutor while serving as a defense counsel in other cases. Dowd adds that Sullivan’s contract allows him to hire other lawyers at his own expense, meaning that Greitens political enemies could financially contribute to his prosecution.
Perhaps most troubling is the shabbiness of the case against Greitens. As Dowd explains, the state must prove that a photograph was first taken and then transmitted. If there is no photograph, there is no transmission. Even if the prosecution claims Greitens destroyed the photo, there is no proof at all of transmission.
Dowd elaborates on how Assistant Circuit Attorney Robert Steele misled the grand jury by repeatedly and flagrantly misrepresenting the law. Says Dowd, “No normal citizen would be charged with a felony when no victim has ever complained of a crime, the police have never been involved, and no evidence has been produced.”
Dowd believes the House committee would be establishing a terrible precedent by investigating a public official for private behavior that took place two years before he took office on the basis of accusations promulgated in the media. Even with 40 years of high level experience, Dowd has to concede, “I have never, ever seen a case like this.”
“The Governor,” he insists, “will be found innocent.”
