ST. LOUIS — A judge on Friday ordered St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner to testify in a deposition in the lead-up to her former investigator’s perjury case.
Gardner’s office will now have to turn over a series of documents and she will have to appear for a deposition on Jan. 15, unless her lawyers appeal, according to the order issued by Circuit Judge Bryan Hettenbach.
It was not immediately clear if Gardner would appeal, as her office has before to fight court orders for documents. Her spokeswoman provided a statement saying, “We are disappointed that the judge has chosen to keep the taxpayers paying for this matter, and we are evaluating our options.â€
People are also reading…
Gerard “Jerry†Carmody, a special prosecutor appointed to investigate claims that former FBI Agent William Don Tisaby lied in a deposition in the dismissed invasion of privacy case against former Gov. Eric Greitens, wants Gardner deposed because she sat next to Tisaby in a March 2018 deposition. Carmody also says that Gardner and Tisaby exchanged a series of phone calls and messages that Tisaby later denied.
Lawyers for Gardner sought to block the deposition, arguing in court Tuesday that the investigation was a politically motivated attack intended to humiliate her.
Carmody replied that he’d asked Gardner to appear in front of a grand jury six times and she never showed, and that Gardner’s office has failed to turn over a series of documents and other records.
The documents Hettenbach ordered Gardner to turn over include “all text messages, emails or other communications†between Gardner and Tisaby, and also material involving current and former circuit attorney’s office employees relating to the Greitens prosecution.
Hettenbach’s order for documents specifically lists communications between Gardner and Tisaby related to their interview with Greitens’ accuser on Jan. 29, 2018, but also requests communications between Gardner and consultant Maurice Foxworth, her former chief investigator Tony Box and former spokeswoman .
Tisaby, 67, is facing six counts of perjury and one count of evidence tampering. A more than against him in June included claims that Gardner failed to correct Tisaby’s lies, failed to report them to police, and made incorrect statements to defense lawyers and a judge. Tisaby’s trial is set for March 30. Hettenbach vowed that it will not be delayed.
Gardner’s claim of a “political hit job†is not a legal argument, the judge said, but he determined that Gardner is correct that the narrative form of the indictment “is not typical practice in Missouri state court.â€
“Not typical, however, is not the same as defective,†Hettenbach said, adding that the indictment adheres to Missouri court rules.
