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Missouri Supreme Court disciplines prosecutor who criticized letter writers in the press

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The Missouri Supreme Court has sided with a disciplinary counsel in deciding that Platt County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd violated rules of professional responsibility.

Missouri Supreme Court – Image courtesy of Missouri Courts

Zahnd publicly criticized letter writers who expressed support for a man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting one of his daughters.

In doing so, the high judges determined that Zahnd engaged in prejudicial conduct meant to embarrass the letter writers and fined him $750.

The state Disciplinary Counsel had asked for stiffer penalties, including a six-month suspension of his law license and a fine of $1,000 to pay for fee and costs.

Following the sentencing of Darren Paden, Zahnd’s office issued a statement to the media expressing disappointment in community members that supported a defendant who had confessed to sex crimes against a child.

The release identified the people who had written letters and included their current or former employers. Three of the individuals named in the news release claimed they were harmed as a result.

The case deeply divided tiny Dearborn, a town of fewer than 500 residents north of Kansas City. 52-year-old Paden, who was a prominent member of the community, was given two 25-year terms in prison for statutory sodomy in 2015.

The closely watched case drew the attention of a number of interest groups. Five Friend of the Court documents were filed, four of them siding with Prosecutor Zahnd.

Among the organization backing him were the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the Missouri Press Association while the National and Missouri Associations of Criminal Defense Lawyers supported sanctions against him.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case roughly three weeks ago on May 2nd.

Zahnd had been considered a strong candidate to become the next U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, the top federal prosecutor in that part of the state.

But former Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Garrison was confirmed for that position just days before Zahnd’s case came before the high bench.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Missourinet 7 a.m. News 5-22-2018

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Top Stories: A Republic man from southwest Missouri escaped a fatal helicopter crash with just an arm injury.  33-year-old Chance Mills was working on a transmission line with a co-worker who was killed when the chopper they were on went down over the weekend.  And a massive group of veterans which is riding motorcycles across the country stopped in eastern Missouri’s Wentzville last night.  The “Run for the Wall” group held a ceremony at the city’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial this morning before continuing their journey.

Unnamed woman speaks out about her encounters with Greitens

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The unnamed woman central to a previous felony charge against Governor Eric Greitens and a state House investigation into the possible impeach of him has come forward.

The woman referred to as K.S. in documents told KSDK-TV nobody has paid her, and nobody involved in politics persuaded her to come forward.  Greitens is alleged to have taken and transmitted a nonconsensual photo of the woman while she was undressed, bound and blindfolded.

The woman said she stood by her testimony before a special House committee as documented in a report it released, stating that she felt vulnerable.  She described to the committee how she was physically assaulted and sexually coerced by Greitens in 2015 and reaffirmed the experience to KSDK.

When the TV station’s reporter asked her why she continued to see Greitens several times, she said she wanted to feel better.  “I felt so awful about myself. I wanted to forget whatever happened. I didn’t want to believe that actually happened, and so, if he really likes me then, ‘Yeah, yeah, it didn’t happen like that,'” the woman told KSDK.

She said the governor’s defense team used statements from her testimony out of context when suggesting she had dreamed up the encounter where the alleged photo was taken.  “I definitely did not dream this up. Period.”

The felony charge of Invasion of Privacy was dropped after a judge determined the prosecutor, St Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, could be called as a witness by the defense to inquire about alleged perjury by a private investigator her office hired.

Gardner was barred yesterday from having any involvement in legal matters involving Governor Greitens if Invasion of privacy charges are refiled.  The St. Louis Circuit Court named Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker to lead the investigation and potential retrial.

Gardner praised the decision and said Ms. Baker would conduct an independent review and make a decision about whether to refile charges. If she chooses to pursue charges, the case will remain in the City of St. Louis Circuit Court.

UM System to raise tuition at four schools 1 percent

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The University of Missouri Board of Curators has approved a tuition increase for the next academic year starting in the fall.

Image courtesy of the University of Missouri system

The board approved a 2.1 percent increase but says it’ll only hike tuition 1 percent as part of an agreement with state lawmakers who did not cut the university’s budget.

Earlier this month, budget planners in both the state House and Senate agreed to reinstate $68 million that Governor Greitens had cut in his proposal for the Department of Higher Education.  The arrangement keeps funding for colleges and universities equal to its current level.

The plan, which first emerged from the House, restricted the institutions from raising tuition more 1 percent in exchange for the restored funding.  The curators noted in a statement that their approval of a 2.1 percent increase equaled the amount allowed under current state law.  Right now, tuition hikes are capped at the rate of inflation.

The arrangement negotiated by Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Scott Fitzpatrick of Shell Knob allows the institutions to enact a 2.1 percent hike if a revenue shortfall reduced higher education funding.

A bill passed by the legislature last Friday would allow institutions that lose funding in the previous year to hike rates up to 5 percent.  The measure’s been sent to the governor’s office for signature.

The Board of Curators decision affects tuition at four schools – the flagship University of Missouri in Columbia as well as branches in St. Louis and Kansas City and Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.

David Steelman, who chairs the Board of Curators is thankful state lawmakers were able to avoid higher education budget cuts.

“We’re extremely appreciative of efforts of our legislators,” said Steelman. “They worked diligently and did not cut our revenue despite a variety of budget pressures facing the state. Through the combination of our campus leaders and the legislators, we are able to keep tuition at four of the state’s premier universities very low.”

Ryan Rapp, UM Vice President for Finance said the university system goes to great lengths to keep costs for students in check.  “The University of Missouri has had one of the lowest rates of tuition increase in the U.S. during the past decade,” said Rapp.

UM System President Mun Choi said the schools are helping to offset the tuition hike through other costs saving efforts for students.

“Even with this increase, our campuses have reduced other costs so that the overall cost to students remains low,” Choi said.  “Through cost-saving measures, such as our textbook affordability initiative and increases in need and merit-based scholarships, many students will see their total cost of attendance decline.”

The University of Missouri-Columbia has reduced the cost of its most common housing and dining plans which it says will allow students to live and eat on campus for approximately $1,000 per month.

State lawmakers opted to fund four higher education cooperative agreements at 60% of what the department asked for.  Among those programs are the University of Missouri Coop Medical School expansion at its Springfield clinic and the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Missouri Southern State University Coop Dental Program.

Missouri special House committee to discuss special session rules at Tuesday hearing

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A special Missouri House committee investigating Governor Eric Greitens is meeting to consider and adopt rules for the special session now underway.

House Committee investigating Governor Greitens holds a hearing to discuss impeachment procedures

A resolution was issued by the House late Friday authorizing the committee to recommend disciplinary action, including articles of impeachment against the governor.

The resolution also laid ground rules for how the investigation and possible impeachment will be handled.  Nine rules were specified in the resolution.

Among other things, the special House committee will determine the individuals that’ll be subpoenaed to testify before it as witnesses and only committee members will be permitted to question the witnesses.

The committee, on a majority vote, can close a hearing from the press and public to hear from certain witnesses and choose to protect the identity or privacy of any witness by redacting names, testimony and evidence in transcripts it releases.

That stipulation could pave the way for an unidentified woman central to allegations of physical assault and sexual abuse against Greitens to remain anonymous.

An alleged 2015 encounter with the woman led to a felony invasion of privacy charge against Greitens by a grand jury in St. Louis.  He was accused of taking and transmitting a non-consensual photo of the woman while she was undressed, bound and blindfolded.

The charge was dropped although the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office has said it will be refiled.  Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner says Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker, D, has agreed to serve as the special prosecutor handling that charge.

The House special committee has also collected information about a second felony case involving Greitens.  He’s charged with felony computer tampering for allegedly obtaining and transferring a donor list from his former charity without permission for campaign purposes.

Greitens has admitted to an extramarital affair with the woman but denies any criminal wrongdoing.

The rules as stated in the resolution do not give attorneys representing the governor’s office powers they were seeking to call witnesses and cross-examine them.

Last week, the special House committee heard testimony under oath from the attorneys, Washington-based Ross Garber and Edward Greim of the Graves Garrett law firm in Kansas City.

The committee’s chairman, Republican Rep. Jay Barnes of Jefferson City and Greim tangled over whether Greitens should be afforded due process and whether the attorneys would have subpoena power and the right to cross-examination.

The rules allow the committee to force witnesses to testify and produce documents, enabling it to punish disobedience of its authority.  The resolution states that the rules of civil and criminal procedure in court cases do not apply to the special House committee’s hearing or to the consideration of findings or recommendations the committee sends to the full House.

Subpoenas for witnesses to appear will be issued by the Speaker of the House, Republican Representative Todd Richardson of Poplar Bluff.  All witnesses will have right to a lawyer.  Those attorneys will be allowed to make written and oral presentations before the committee.

The resolution expanded the size of the special House committee from seven to ten members with no more than seven of them from one party.

The three new members have already been named.  There are two Republicans, Representative J Eggleston of Maysville and Representative Curtis Trent of Springfield, and one Democrat, Representative Greg Razer of Kansas City.

The resolution issued Friday is a continuation of a similar document adopted by the House on March 1st to set ground rules for the special committee when it was originally formed.

The updated resolution is sponsored jointly by Chairman Barnes and the ranking Democrat on the committee, Representative Gina Mitten of St. Louis.  It could be amended by the committee when it meets Tuesday.

The committee has scheduled hearings Tuesday through Friday as it’s working on a tight time schedule.  The special session is limited to 30 days and must be completed by June 17th.

Kansas City area Ford plant operating at capacity after two week partial shutdown

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The Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Claycomo near Kansas City was operating at full capacity Monday morning after a partial plant shutdown.

F Series trucks in front of the Kansas City Ford Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Mo.

3,600 of the factory’s approximately 7,400 union employees had been idled by a production shut down of F-150 pickup trucks since a fire damaged a supplier operation on May 2nd.

The blaze occurred at the Magnesium Products of America plant in Eaton Rapids, Michigan which supplies a part called the CMA Module, a front-end component where the radiator is installed.

Ford shut down the portion of operations at its two plants that assemble the F-150 in Claycomo and Dearborn, Michigan two weeks ago.

Early reports had said it would take up to three weeks to restore the part supplier plant to normal operations.

Assembly of F-150’s resumed at the Ford Dearborn plant Friday morning as parts were once again available. The reopening of the Claycomo operation was delayed until Monday to give the part supplier more time to build up the supply of its product

The idled Claycomo employees received 95% of their net take-home pay minus $30 while the plant was temporarily mothballed.  3,800 workers who assemble the Ford Transit van were not impacted by the fire at the Michigan part supplier.

Trade publication Industry Week reported Kansas City to be the country’s second-largest auto hub in November 2015.  General Motors operates its Fairfax assembly plant which employs 2,000 people in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Ford F-150 truck which is assembled at the Claycomo plant has been the best-selling vehicle in the United States for well over 30 years.

The idled workers began shifts at the Claycomo plant Monday morning at 6 a.m.

Missouurinet 7 a.m. News 5-21-2018

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Top Stories:  Several school districts in the Kansas City area have sent notes to parents about the Netflix show ’13 Reasons Why over its alleged glamorization of suicide.  The Park Hill district recommended parents keep children from watching the program, of which Netflix released the second season this weekend.  And a battle over Governor Eric Greitens use of private attorneys to represent his office for possible impeachment proceedings has developed.

AG Hawley, Auditor Galloway in fight with Greitens over use of private attorneys

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A battle over Governor Eric Greitens’ use of private attorneys to represent his office for possible impeachment proceedings has developed.

House Committee investigating Governor Greitens holds a hearing to discuss impeachment procedures

Attorney General Josh Hawley addressed a letter to state Auditor Nicole Galloway Friday stating that the Office of Governor lacks authority to retain private impeachment counsel.

He also said the attorneys claiming to represent the office are acting without authority.  Hawley’s two-page letter quoted state laws and used previous court decisions, including the tobacco settlement from the early 2000’s to back up his argument.

The Republican attorney general said the lawyers seem focused on advancing the individual interests of fellow GOP member Greitens rather than the Office of the Governor.

Auditor Galloway, a Democrat, has expressed doubt that the Governor’s Office had legal authority to hire private attorneys.  Her office sent a letter to the state treasurer and Office of Administration Friday informing them that she’s investigating the matter and questions the use of private lawyers at taxpayer expense.

Galloway’s office asked the state treasurer and Office of Administration to respond to her by Tuesday stating whether they’re processing payments to the lawyers.

Governor Greitens’ spokesperson Parker Briden followed the correspondence from Hawley and Galloway with a public statement Friday, claiming that it’s a long-established fact the governor has the ability to hire private counsel, noting the previous Democratic Governor Jay Nixon had done so.

Briden quoted a state law and referenced a 1938 state Supreme Court case to support his argument.

The state legislature has assembled a special session to consider impeachment of Greitens.

A felony invasion of privacy case against him was recently dropped by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, a Democrat.  Her office has said the charge will be re-filed.

Greitens had been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly taking and transmitting a non-consensual photo of his mistress in 2015 before becoming governor.

He also faces a felony computer tampering charge for allegedly obtaining and transferring a donor list from his former charity without permission for campaign purposes.

A special House committee investigating Greitens is holding a hearing Tuesday to consider and adopt special session rules as well as discuss documents and discovery of facts.

The committee will determine whether to bring articles of impeachment against the governor.  It’s also scheduled a hearing for Wednesday.

Last week, the committee heard testimony under oath from the two private attorneys Greitens has hired to represent his office, Washington-based Ross Garber and Edward Greim of the Graves Garrett law firm in Kansas City.

The exchange was at times contentious, especially between the committee’s chairman, Republican Rep. Jay Barnes of Jefferson City and Greim.

The two tangled over whether Greitens should be afforded due process in the special session and whether the attorneys would have subpoena power and the right to cross-examine witnesses.

At one point, Barnes presented the lawyers with several hundred pages of documentation from the state’s last high-profile impeachment in which Democratic Secretary of State Judi Moriarty was removed from office in 1994.

Barnes noted that Moriarty was not given due process.  Greim countered that her situation was different than that of Greitens because she’d already been convicted of a crime in court at the time she was impeached.

The hearing ended on a somewhat less adversarial tone with Barnes stating that the attorneys would be granted much of what they were asking for.

In his statement Friday, Greitens’ spokesperson Briden stated that presidents (including President Trump) and multitudes of governor’s offices have hired outside attorneys to assist in investigations affecting them.  He said the Governor’s Office has the authority to hire counsel to represent the office to defend its interests.

Briden also contended that Attorney General Hawley’s argument that the Governor’s Office attorneys were advancing private interests was factually wrong.  He said they’ve attended meetings and interacted with lawyers representing the legislative branch on behalf of the office, not the governor himself.

Briden said the governor’s adversaries would like to deprive his office of counsel just days after the House hired two outside lawyers to represent the committee probing his actions.

Former State Supreme Court Chief Justice Edward “Chip” Robertson, Jr., and Sedalia attorney Mark Kempton are serving as special counsel to the committee.

In his Friday letter to Auditor Galloway, Attorney General Hawley stated that Greitens lacked the authority to hire a lawyer to represent the Governor’s Office without his consent.

Hawley used a state statute and 1980 court case to support his claim that the hiring of outside counsel would have to be handled through his office.

He said only the legislature could authorize the governor to hire a private attorney at taxpayer expense.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Partial repeal of state’s prevailing wage approved by Missouri legislature

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The Missouri Legislature has passed a bill to partially repeal the state’s prevailing wage law.  The Senate approved the change 22-9 mostly along party lines Thursday night while the House passed the measure Friday 97-50.  Both votes were mostly along party lines with the Republican supermajority prevailing.

Prevailing wage refers to the rate of pay for employees on public works projects.

It’s intended to reflect wages for work on similar projects in local areas, but critics say it’s resulted in inflated pay based on wages in large urban areas.

The discrepancy is largely blamed on contractors failing to report wages paid.  Under the plan passed by lawmakers, there would be no prevailing wage unless there are 1,000 reportable hours of pay for a particular occupation in a given county or locality.

The prevailing wage in such circumstances would be replaced by a county’s construction minimum wage.  That rate of pay would amount to 120% of average wages determined by the state Economic Development Department.

The change in the law would not impact projects worth less than $75,000.

Republicans in the GOP dominated legislature have wanted to repeal or partially do away with the prevailing wage for years.  They contend wages on public works projects are highly inflated, siphoning money from other local infrastructure needs.

Democrats, who have stronger ties to organized labor, contend the prevailing wage shouldn’t be repealed.  Instead,  they say contractors should be required to report the wages they pay.  They argue that altering the prevailing wage structure will hurt small contractors and workers

A full repeal of the prevailing wage law cleared the lower chamber in March before failing to get traction in the Senate.  The upper chamber amended the bill late Thursday night to be less stringent.

Republican have been particularly active in passing labor-related measures in the closing days of the session.  Lawmakers passed tighter regulations on public sector unions yesterday.

The also moved the voting date of a union-backed ballot measure to the August primary election when voter turnout is historically much lower.

And a measure endorsing a Constitutional amendment to make right to work the law of the land did not see action in the Senate.  A Senator told Missourinet that the upper chamber was satisfied with the passage of the partial repeal of prevailing wage and with a measure approved in the closing days or the session to require recertification elections for public sector unions.

Missouri legislature passes a 10 cent gas tax increase

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The Missouri legislature has passed a motor fuel tax increase of 10 cents. The current rate of $0.17 per gallon would rise to $0.27 per gallon over a four year period.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been struggling for several years to come up with a plan to deal with a funding shortage for Missouri’s roads and highways.

A proposal to hike the state sales tax by 0.75 percent for the purpose of transportation projects was rejected by voters in 2014. The legislation was the brainchild of Senate Majority Floor Leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, who has been among the legislators trying to find money for roads.

If the measure approved by the legislature Friday is signed by the governor, it’ll go before voters in the form of a Constitutional amendment.

Raising the motor fuel tax was one of the key recommendations of a task force put together by lawmakers in 2017. The group (21st century Missouri Transportation System Task Force) held at least seven meetings across the state before presenting suggestions to improve transportation in Missouri to the legislature in January.

It recommended a ten-cent gasoline tax increase and a 12-cent diesel tax increase. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) predicted the average Missouri motorist would pay an additional $5 per month, under the proposal.

Missouri has the 7th largest transportation system in the country but ranks 46th in revenue per mile. The massive disparity has been attributed to a unique arrangement in which Missouri maintains a vast network of county highways, commonly referred to as the lettered roads, unlike most any other state.

Missouri is tied with Oklahoma for the lowest fuel tax in the region at $0.17 per gallon. By comparison, Missouri maintains 33,856 miles of roads and bridges while Oklahoma handles 12,257 miles.

The Show-Me State hasn’t seen a boost in fuel tax since 1996. MoDOT has pegged the increase in funding needed to maintain and provide infrastructure upgrades to the state’s roads at $825 million annually.

Fully implemented, the motor fuel tax increase to $0.17 per gallon would generate roughly $400 million per year.

The measure approved by the legislature was passed in the House Friday as an amendment to the “Olympic Dream Freedom Act” which would exempt Missourians from having to pay state income tax on U.S. Olympic medals and prize money they win.