ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office has filed a motion for sanctions against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office for failing to disclose evidence in her quest to free Lamar Johnson, according to a motion filed Thursday.
Gardner’s office withheld a lab report from the Missouri Attorney General’s office showing Lamar Johnson’s coat was positive for gunshot residue, and that evidence “would likely prove Johnson’s guilt,” according to the motion.
The Attorney General’s office is now asking a judge to sanction Gardner’s office and give the state more time to prepare for the new evidence, according to the motion.
Specifically, Schmitt’s office is asking a judge to grant it more time to update its witness list and exhibit list to “present the concealed evidence,”; to limit Gardner’s cross-examination about the jacket; to draw adverse inference from the “intentional nondisclosure of the positive gunshot residue test; and for a hearing Friday at 2 p.m. to discuss the matter or “as soon as he may be reasonably heard.”
Gardner’s office filed a motion to vacate Johnson’s 1994 conviction for first-degree murder and armed criminal action for the killing of Marcus Boyd in a reported drug dispute in St. Louis. He’s been behind bars for nearly 30 years serving a life sentence for a crime he says he didn’t commit.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt alleged in a motion filed today that his office only learned about the existence of the gunshot residue test after it called the crime lab that tested the jacket for DNA, and a representative asked if it wanted the gunshot residue reports as well.
Schmitt’s spokesman said he could not comment on the pending litigation and that the motion speaks for itself.
Gardner's office provided the following statement Thursday:
"It is unconscionable that the Attorney General would twist the facts to suit his personal agenda. This is not the first time this office has used the justice system to play politics. The Office of the Circuit Attorney at no point intentionally concealed evidence."
The Midwest Innocence Project provided the following statement Thursday:
"Overwhelming evidence proves Lamar Johnson is innocent. The Attorney General’s latest distraction doesn’t change that, and we look forward to presenting that evidence on Monday."
Here is a timeline included in the motion:
March 29: Gardner personally spoke to Scott Hummel, the quality assurance manager at the Kansas City Crime Lab. Following the call, the CAO’s Chief investigator requested a DNA and gunshot residue test on Johnson’s jacket that was seized from his trunk on the night of the murder.
April 1: Johnson’s jacket is sent to the Kansas City Crime Lab.
April 4: Johnson’s jacket is received by the Kansas City crime lab. The lab finds no DNA on the jacket. That report is given to the Attorney General, but the CAO never disclosed she requested gunshot residue testing.
Aug. 31: Gardner files a motion to set aside Johnson’s conviction.
Sept. 20: Court orders Gardner’s office to provide any additional discovery within 14 days.
Oct. 18: The Missouri Attorney General’s Office asks Gardner’s office for “any written correspondence with any forensic testing as it relates to Lamar Johnson’s convictions or litigation that relates to those convictions.”
Nov. 17: Gardner’s office responds through her records custodian: “The office objects to this interrogatory. It is unclear and ambiguous in that the office cannot know what is meant by ‘forensic testing or analysis that relates to Lamar Johnson’s convictions or litigation about those convictions.’” It continues, “Their request is not relevant to the subject motion to vacate or set aside judgement of Lamar Johnson and is not reasonably calculated to lead to discovery of admissible evidence.” After reviewing the responses, the Attorney General’s Office requests a meeting with Gardner’s office to confer to work through the discovery issues and to talk about forensic testing.
Nov. 30: Schmitt and Gardner’s representatives meet, and Gardner’s Special Assistant Circuit Attorney Charles Weiss did not disclose the request for gunshot residue had been made. Instead, Weiss stated the Attorney General’s Office had the results of all of the testing and continued to insist the Circuit Attorney’s Office did not know what lab notes were. After the conference, the Assistant Attorney’s General reviewed the files and the jacket in question was not present for the review. The Kansas City Crime Lab completed the gunshot residue test that same day and released the report directly to the Circuit Attorney’s Office by e-mail.
Dec. 1: The Attorney General’s Office, confused by the Circuit Attorney’s Office’s insistence that her office cannot know what lab notes are, contacted the crime lab and requested the lab notes. Upon making that request, the lab representative revealed there were two reports.
Dec. 7: The Attorney General’s Office received all of the reports from the crime lab, including the gunshot residue test and notes.
Earlier this year, Gardner's office was sanctioned after being accused of withholding written notes from defense attorneys that she and one of her investigators took while interviewing former Gov. Eric Greitens' mistress.
