The number of charges filed in St. Crime-plagued Louis, Missouri, has more than doubled in just three months since progressive George Soros-backed prosecutor Kim Gardner resigned in disgrace, it emerged Friday.
Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore, 54, took over from Gardner, 48, after he abruptly quit in May amid multiple efforts to remove him as homicides hit a 50-year high.
Since he was sworn in on May 31, Gore has filed 1,400 cases — more than double the 620 cases Gardner filed during the same period last year, according to a review of cases by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The jump was partly due to the prosecution of cases neglected by his progressive predecessor, which left a backlog of more than 4,500 pending charges, the report said.
“I don’t think there’s any magic to what we’re doing,” Gore said. “We are only prosecuting violations of the law.”
In just the first three months in office, Circuit Attorney St. Louis Gabe Gore doubled the number of prosecutions of his predecessor.AP
Gore said he has prioritized low-level offenses — which were phased out under Gardner — which he called “quality-of-life crimes.”
“This is what drives people out of town,” Gore said. “These are things that cannot be considered the cost of living somewhere.”
His office is still dealing with about 2,000 outstanding cases, which he hopes to resolve by early 2024.
To do so, Gore is adding to the Circuit Attorney’s Office, which was understaffed under Gardner — which lost half of the 60 lawyers he started while in office.
Democratic Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner resigned in disgrace in May amid pressure from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.AP
Gore said he has hired 21 new attorneys, still less than the number left under his predecessor.
“We still rely on lawyers who come to work every day and do more than they should,” Gore said. “Everyone is supportive and doing the best they can.”
Gore was selected to lead the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office. Louis by Republican Governor Mike Parson.
Gardner resigned while facing several attempts to remove him from office, including by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who filed a quo warranto petition to force his removal over repeated incidents in which his office allegedly failed to enforce the law.
He’s backed by billionaire Soros — getting about $116,000 from the Soros-funded Vera Institute for Justice — and came to office promising to hold police accountable and free prisoners he feels have been convicted.
Gardner is backed by George Soros and receives about $116,000 from the Soros-funded Vera Institute for Justice. AFP via Getty Images
In 2019, Gardner also announced an “exclusion list” of about 75 police officers who would no longer be allowed to bring cases to his office because their “integrity was compromised.”
He later came under fire for his decision to prosecute a couple for pointing a gun at Black Lives Matter protesters.
It all came to a head in February, when a speeding car crashed into the city center — pinning a teenager between two vehicles and amputating both of his legs.
The driver, Daniel Riley, remains free after several court delays – although he continues to violate his bond.
Afterward, many of Gardner’s former associates began calling for his resignation, and Bailey, the attorney general, filed suit seeking his removal from office.
At first, Gardner called the lawsuit a politically motivated attack and blamed his subordinates when the spotlight turned on dismissals and delays in individual cases.
The outrage eventually led to his resignation.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
