Having reminded the prosecutors in the Greitens case that “these rules are not mere rules of etiquette,” Circuit Judge Rex Burlison declared on Thursday, “Clearly in this case the state has committed sanctionable discovery violations of the rules of criminal procedure.”
Short of dismissing the case against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, Burlison came down as hard as he could on the state team led by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.
In a reply submitted to Burlison on Wednesday in support of its motion to dismiss the case, defense counsel laid out some of the highlights of the state case to date:
“There can be no doubt that this is a most unusual case–a statute used in a fashion which no prosecutor had ever done before, a race to the grand jury to avoid even talking to the target’s attorneys, the use of a private investigator–sidestepping any involvement by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the hiring of a ‘special’ assistant Circuit Attorney not licensed in Missouri, a ‘victim’ whose only request was to be left alone, all resulting in the indictment of a sitting Governor.
“As details came out, this case only got stranger–the special prosecutor appeared to be violating Missouri law by his participation, the police department said the Circuit Attorney was not telling the truth when she said she had asked for its help, a video-taped interview of the key witness somehow is viewable for the first time months after the interview, the alleged victim has now said some of her memories may have been from dreams, and the private investigator not only had been found to have violated Alabama law and demoted by the FBI for misconduct, but he perjured himself in his deposition in response to almost every question he was asked, with the Circuit Attorney knowingly watching on.”
What is weird is that the defense counsel is not exaggerating. Among the sanctions the judge awarded the defense were the right to depose once again the woman at the heart of the controversy as well as private investigator William Tisaby who will consider himself lucky if he is not charged with perjury before the case is closed.
Trial is scheduled to begin May 14 in St. Louis.