“Taxpayers won't be paying for Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's private attorneys, judge rules
Contracts with five law firms Gardner hired to represent her during a grand jury investigation into her office were not properly certified, a judge said
ST. LOUIS — A judge has determined that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has illegal contracts with private attorneys and the city shouldn’t have to pay for them.
Judge Joan Moriarty also ruled that the city’s comptroller, Darlene Green, should do more to ensure contracts exist and are legal before using taxpayer money to pay for them, according to a ruling filed Wednesday.
The ruling is in response to a lawsuit filed by Charles Lane – a St. Louis resident who sued Gardner and the city alleging that it’s illegal for Gardner to use public money to fight her legal battles.
Those battles include a grand jury investigation into whether a private investigator she hired, William Tisaby, committed perjury during the prosecution of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.
“While she has been waiting almost a year to pay some of her legal expenses, this harm does not outweigh the harm that will be suffered by the public if the illegal expenditures are permitted to go forward,” according to the ruling.
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The ruling is known an a preliminary injunction, which means the case still could go to trial. But Moriarty wrote that she needed to make a ruling that would stand unless and until that happens because, “irreparable harm likely would result in the absence of this court granting preliminary injunctive relief.”
“If this court were to decline issuance of injunctive relief, there is substantial probability that substantial unlawful expenditures of city tax revenues would occur imminently,” she wrote.
Click here to read the full Lane v. Gardner preliminary injunction order.
Moriarty previously issued a temporary restraining order on Gardner’s ability to submit bills to the comptroller’s office.
She noted in her ruling that Gardner’s office submitted a voucher for about $168,000 to pay the law firm Brown, Goldstein and Levy when the restraining order “briefly lapsed in August.”
Gardner’s office has not yet responded to a request for comment.
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local/st-louis-circuit-attorney-kim-gardner-private-attorneys-judge-ruling/63-3bf8aee1-28cd-4b92-9356-db73c5093910