Judge: No contempt of court for St. Louis prosecutor

By JIM SALTER
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis judge has ruled that the city’s elected prosecutor was not in contempt of court as a result of her office’s failure to have a prosecutor present when a murder trial was due to begin. Judge Scott A. Millikan determined during a 45-minute hearing Monday that Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office let “fall through the cracks” the fact that prosecutor Alex Polta was out on medical leave and no replacement had been assigned. As a result, the first-degree murder trial had to be delayed. Millikan ruled that the mistake failed to rise to the level of contempt of court.