Judge sanctions prosecutors in Greitens case
A St. Louis judge on Thursday rejected a request from Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens to dismiss a felony criminal indictment against him, but sanctioned prosecutors for failing to turn over evidence as soon as they should have.
Greitens was indicted in February on a charge of invasion of privacy. He’s accused of taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015, before he was elected. Greitens has admitted to what he says was an “entirely consensual” affair and has denied criminal wrongdoing.
Attorneys for Greitens say a private investigator hired by the prosecutor has repeatedly lied to the court. They also allege that Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner knew he lied, and that her office has withheld evidence from the defense.
Circuit Judge Rex Burlison’s sanctions allow the defense to retake depositions with the woman who is at the center of the case and with the private investigator. Both are expected next week, said Susan Ryan, a spokeswoman for the circuit attorney’s office.
Attorneys for Greitens have said prosecutors withheld a videotaped deposition with the woman until an hour before a special state House committee released a report last week that cited allegations of unwanted sexual aggression, and has been slow to turn over other evidence.
Defense attorneys also said 11 pages of private investigator William Tisaby’s notes from a deposition of a friend of the woman, requested weeks ago, were not turned over until Sunday, and only after Gretiens’ lawyers threatened to go to court to ask for them.
“These rules are not mere rules of etiquette,” the judge said. “Clearly in this case the state has committed sanctionable discovery violations of the rules of criminal procedure.”