In Missouri, the State Attorney Used Quo Warranto
In Missouri, the state attorney used a rather rare tool - Quo Warranto (literally "by what right") - a special request for release from office. The state's attorney has asked the court to relieve St. Louis County District Attorney Kimberly Gardner from her post. The state's attorney cited the following as the basis: On February 18, a car driven by Daniel Riley struck 16-year-old Janae Edmonson after a speeding accident. As a result of the accident, both legs were amputated. Claims against the district prosecutor arose because the driver of the car should have been in prison: back in 2020, he committed a robbery, but the process of bringing him to justice was delayed due to the fault of the prosecutor’s office, while the accused was free on bail and some restrictions . Prior to committing the DWI, the defendant violated restrictions 54 times, but the District Attorney's Office never applied to the court for a change of restraint, which, according to the State Attorney, is the moral, ethical and legal responsibility of the District Attorney's office and resulted in the amputation of the victim's legs. There is no reporting relationship between the State Attorney's office and the County Attorney's office; both prosecutors are elected officials. At the same time, there is both a political and ideological struggle between prosecutors: they belong to different parties and profess different approaches to the fight against crime. Now the court will evaluate the correctness of the approaches.
By the way, the district attorney is a rather unusual person. She was a member of the State House of Representatives, as a prosecutor, she led an investigation against the governor, clashed with state prosecutors (fun fact: both Missouri senators are former state prosecutors) and was accused of committing crimes and violating ethics both while working as a prosecutor and in financing election campaigns. campaigns. The prosecutor also clashed with the city police: for example, she introduced a list of city police officers whose testimony was not used by the prosecutor’s office by default, since the prosecutor’s office did not trust the latter. Finally, it was Miss Gardner who began the criminal prosecution of the McCloskeys, who were later pardoned by the governor.
By the way, Miss Gardner won the last election with 74%.
Author: Igor Slabykh
