Judge will not dismiss Greitens criminal case
UPDATE 10:20 am: During the hearing, the judge ordered re-depositions of several witnesses as sanctions for the prosecutor’s mishandling of evidence. This will include the former mistress who will be re-deposed by Greitens’ attorneys.
Judge Rex Burlison called the discovery violations from Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office “troubling, and their response to them, “troubling.” Gardner’s office said that sanctions over their delayed release of evidence to the defense would be inappropriate.
“These are not mere rules,” Burlison said. “They must be complied with and they’re not discretionary.”
Burlison said re-ordering depositions would hopefully be a way to remedy the discovery violations. Striking evidence from the case or even dismissing it, would an extreme step, he said. Burlison added that he would consider more sanctions, should any more violations occur.
The judge also ordered that the questions in the depositions need to be limited because of prior lengthy interviews.
The Circuit Attorney announced that they will send a complete catalog of evidence to the defense immediately.
UPDATE 9:45 am: Charges will not be dropped in the governor’s criminal case.
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ORIGINAL STORY: St. Louis Circuit Judge is scheduled to decide Thursday whether or not to throw out Governor Eric Greitens criminal case.
Greitens’ defense team wants Judge Rex Burlison to dismiss the invasion of privacy charge against him. The defense claims that prosecutors have withheld important information.
The private investigator the prosecutors hired for the case, Don Tisaby, a former FBI agent, has faced harsh criticism from Greitens’ defense team for the way he handled interview notes and his failure to hand over those notes to the defense team. The governors’ team said Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office was “oblivious” to their obligations in turning over evidence, and argued it’s grounds for dismissal.
Prosecutors admitted that Tisaby’s actions looked back, but did not believe the judge should throw out the case over the issue.
ABC 17 News is in St. Louis today and will update this developing story.
