Multiple cases have come to public attention in St. Louis where criminal suspects have had to wait not weeks, not months but years for their trials because of mismanagement in Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's office. Outraged defense attorneys complain that prosecutors keep failing to turn over evidence or witness lists, forcing delay after delay. Prosecutors are showing up in court unprepared and, in several cases, filing for dismissal only so they can refile the case and reset the clock.

The delays — more than a dozen involving murder cases in 2022 alone, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis — are more than unfair and might constitute a violation of defendants' constitutional rights. Gardner and progressive allies like Mayor Tishaura Jones and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush campaigned on promises to reform St. Louis criminal justice to emphasize compassion for the accused and to give a higher priority on the suspect's presumption of innocence. Those arguments were central to the three politicians' campaign to close the city's medium-security jail, nicknamed the workhouse.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is pressing in court to relieve Gardner of her duties, citing managerial and prosecutorial incompetence. It would be interesting to see how Gardner, under oath in court and unable to dodge direct questions, squares her campaign promises with her actual record regarding delays that deny defendants their right to a speedy trial. It might be that the defendants are guilty as hell and would ultimately serve a lot more time than just the few years they spend waiting for trial, but that's for the court to decide. Gardner's job is to move cases forward expeditiously to make that judgment possible.

The latest case involves murder suspect Charl Howard, 49, who has spent 4 1/2 years waiting for trial. As the Post-Dispatch's Katie Kull reports, Howard's trial was supposed to start Monday, but prosecutors failed to turn over a witness list until the last minute, giving Howard's attorneys too little time to review the list and adjust their defense accordingly. The list contained a surprise: the addition of Howard's girlfriend as a prosecution witness. No one can blame Howard's attorney for objecting to the late notice. The trial date had to be postponed yet again. That follows 25 delays during the pandemic plus two non-pandemic-related postponements last year.

The judge in the case, Bryan Hettenbach, accepted that "last-minute developments and adjustments" often lead to delays. "The problem here is that 'last minute' has arrived after five years of pre-trial waiting," he wrote.

Such mismanagement is not only unfair to the defendant but also to the family of the victim and witnesses who show up expecting a trial, only to be told to go home and wait some more. Gardner has had more than enough time to fix what's wrong in her office. The time is now for court intervention.

REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Photo credit: WikiImages at Pixabay