Kimberly M Gardner was born on August 2,1975 and is an American politician and attorney from the state of Missouri.
51 Facts About Kimberly Gardner
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Kimberly Gardner was the circuit attorney for the city of St Louis, Missouri.
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Kimberly Gardner previously served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives.
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In February 2023, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey requested that Gardner resign after a serial criminal who had violated house arrest 51 times caused a teenage girl to lose both of her legs.
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In July 2022, the suspect in question had been in court, ready to be tried as a suspect of an armed robbery that had happened in 2020, but Kimberly Gardner's office was not prepared for the trial, so Kimberly Gardner's staff dismissed the charges and refiled them the same day.
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On May 4,2023, Kimberly Gardner officially resigned as Circuit Attorney of St Louis.
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Kimberly Gardner was born in 1975 and raised in St Louis, Missouri.
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Kimberly Gardner then earned a Juris Doctor from the Saint Louis University School of Law in 2003 and a Master of Science in nursing from Saint Louis University in 2012.
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Kimberly Gardner is the first African-American to head the Circuit Attorney's Office.
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Kimberly Gardner expanded diversion and drug court programs, and consulted with the Vera Institute of Justice on these issues.
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Kimberly Gardner promised to end prosecutions of low-level marijuana possession and dismiss many such cases.
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Kim Kimberly Gardner's office charged defendants under direct complaint and then used the grand jury process to delay the preliminary hearing.
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Kim Kimberly Gardner's continued use of the grand jury process circumvented the Supreme Court's attempt at reform.
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Kim Kimberly Gardner's office secured a grand jury indictment of sitting Missouri Governor Eric Greitens in February 2018, for felony invasion of privacy.
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On May 15,2018, Greitens' attorneys filed a police report with the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department alleging perjury by William Don Tisaby, an ex-FBI agent and private investigator that Kimberly Gardner hired to investigate Greitens.
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Kimberly Gardner appealed the appointment of a special prosecutor to the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled that Kimberly Gardner had a conflict of interest in the case and upheld Mullen's appointment of Carmody.
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On June 17,2019, a 30-page grand jury indictment was unsealed against William Don Tisaby, the private investigator hired by Kimberly Gardner to investigate Greitens, charging him with six counts of felony perjury and one count of felony tampering with evidence.
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Kimberly Gardner is probably the actual target here, not Mr Tisaby.
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The next day, Kimberly Gardner held a press conference denying any wrongdoing in Greitens's case and saying it was time for the city to "move on".
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Kimberly Gardner admitted to wrongdoing during the hearing and agreed to a 40-page stipulation that stated how notes and a recording were not given to Greiten's defense team.
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Kimberly Gardner claimed during the hearing that the St Louis Police Department refused to "step in" to investigate the claims, a claim Chief John Hayden Jr.
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On December 23,2019, Kim Kimberly Gardner was pulled over by St Louis Metropolitan Police officers on Market Street for a traffic violation.
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In January 2020, Kimberly Gardner made numerous news interviews and public claims stating that: the stop was on December 24,2019, police had held her for 15 minutes without stating why, and that these were "intimidation tactics used by the police to stop reform".
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Kimberly Gardner continued to claim that the stop lasted 15 minutes and was without reason.
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In 2019, Kimberly Gardner admitted to repeated campaign finance violations dating back to her time as a Missouri state legislator.
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Kimberly Gardner reached an agreement with the Missouri Ethics Commission to pay a settlement of $6,314 in lieu of a $63,009 fine.
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In January 2020, Kimberly Gardner filed a civil rights lawsuit against St Louis City and St Louis Metropolitan Police Department on the basis of the Fourth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, and Ku Klux Klan Act of 1865, alleging a racist conspiracy.
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Several African American women district attorneys, including Marilyn Mosby and Aramis Ayala, traveled to St Louis to demonstrate support for Kimberly Gardner, declaring that she has been targeted by a "fundamentally racist" system which they contend against.
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Kimberly Gardner was nominated by President Barack Obama in December 2010.
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Solomon claimed that Kimberly Gardner's office violated the state's "Sunshine Law" by refusing to make available records involving investigations into former Republican Missouri Governor Eric Greitens.
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Kimberly Gardner hired a local private law firm to represent her in the case while Solomon was represented by Dave Roland, president of the Freedom Center of Missouri.
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Kimberly Gardner determined that Gardner purposely violated the law and ordered Gardner to produce the records requested within 30 days and fined Gardner's office $5,000.
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Kimberly Gardner's team tried to get the case dismissed claiming that they never received the request.
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Kimberly Gardner said she would bring "the full power of the law" against those responsible for violent acts, but, responding to Schmitt, said that the prosecutor's office cannot bring charges against individuals without admissible evidence from police.
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In December 2020, a judge disqualified Kimberly Gardner from prosecuting the case against Mark McCloskey, writing that "the Circuit Attorney's conduct raises the appearance that she initiated a criminal prosecution for political purposes".
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Kimberly Gardner blamed the mistake on the office's internal policy and procedures on Family and Medical Leave.
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The dismissal rate of cases since Kimberly Gardner has taken office has doubled and is double the rate of surrounding counties.
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On January 12,2022, Kimberly Gardner's office was forced to drop charges against an alleged car bomber due to violating his rights to a speedy trial.
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Kimberly Gardner was charged with arson, endangering the welfare of a child, unlawful possession of a weapon, and property damage.
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In May 2021 the man requested a speedy trial for the state charges and Kimberly Gardner's office failed to meet the 180 day deadline to either bring the man to trial or object.
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On December 9,2021, Kimberly Gardner's office filed a motion alleging that the motion for a speedy trial was not filed properly.
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The judge dismissed the case since Kimberly Gardner's office failed for months to provide reports to the defense after multiple court orders to do so.
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In January 2023, it was reported that Kimberly Gardner was being sued, as well as the city and two other city employees, for racial discrimination and retaliation.
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In May 2023, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey accused Kimberly Gardner of breaking Missouri law by being enrolled in a graduate nursing degree program at St Louis University.
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Kimberly Gardner was fined $750 for ethical violations relating to the prosecution of former Governor Eric Greitens.
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Kimberly Gardner was accused of misappropriation of funds by the US Attorney's Office, given her use of the funds was unsanctioned by state law.
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On October 23,2024, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced a pretrial diversion agreement whereby Kimberly Gardner formally admits to the misappropriation of funds, agrees to remain crime-free for a period of 18 months, reports to a pre-trial services officer, and repays the misappropriated funds.
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Kimberly Gardner ran against three Democratic opponents to secure her post as Circuit Attorney in the 2016 elections, following the retirement of Jennifer Joyce.
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Kimberly Gardner ran on reforming and rebuilding trust in the criminal justice system and reducing violent crime.
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Kimberly Gardner promised to increase diversity, bring independent investigations of police use of force, work to reduce racial disparities, and enhance gun control.
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Kimberly Gardner's campaign accepted $190,750.73 from 'Super PACs' funded in part by billionaire George Soros.