Crime / Courts Archives - Page 3 of 469

Missouri congressman on gun violence: “Our nation and community have reached a tipping point”

August 28, 2019 By Alisa Nelson

St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay says we are in the midst of an epidemic of gun violence that’s “inflicting and devastating carnage” on our community because of the “culture of easy access to gun”. Clay, a St. Louis Democrat, and the St. Louis Aldermanic Black Caucus held a town hall last night at Harris Stowe State University to talk about the city’s gun violence problems. The gathering follows 13 kids getting shot and killed this year in St. Louis.

Congressman Lacy Clay’s town hall about gun violence (Photo courtesy of Jill Enders)

“Our nation and this community have reached a tipping point,” says Clay. “I come to you tonight not just as your congressman but as a father too.”

Clay urged those in attendance to support his proposed federal gun legislation, which would allow cities to pass gun laws without approval of their state legislature.

“It’s time to break the grip of the NRA on Congress and our state legislature. I’m tired of the violence,” says Clay. “We’re not talking about taking firearms away from someone who lives in Pemiscot County, Missouri. I don’t care what you do out there. Help us with this tragedy.”

Clay asked the audience to sign letters to Missouri Republican U.S. senators Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt, encouraging them to pass bills that would strengthen background check requirements for people buying guns.

St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed questions the family values of Republicans.

“We need to remind them that they are the party of family values, so my question is how can we value the family if we don’t value the lives of everybody in the family? How can we value family if you don’t value the lives of all these young kids that have been shot dead in the streets of St. Louis,” asks Reed.

Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards says there have been 1,651 non-fatal shootings in St. Louis this year.

“The only way that we will stop or stem the shootings in our city – we need you. We need the community. Public safety is everybody’s responsibility,” says Edwards. “So, if you see something or if you hear something, be it as an eyewitness or on social media, please say something.”

A man had to be removed by security after becoming disruptive during Edwards’ speech.

About 250 people attended the town hall.

Missouri’s Smith: Congress is not the answer to preventing mass shootings (AUDIO)

August 27, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A southern Missouri congressman who’s one of the top Republicans on Capitol Hill says communities are the answer to preventing mass shootings.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, speaks to a farmer at Peterson Farms in Mountain Grove on July 20, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Smith’s office)

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, spoke to Missourinet recently at the State Fair in Sedalia. We asked him what role, in any, Congress has in preventing mass shootings.

Smith tells Missourinet the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton are heartbreaking, adding that it’s heartbreaking any time a life is lost.

“Congress is not the answer, communities are the answer,” Smith says. “There’s a bad mental health problem out there.”

Smith says more people were killed in the United States in 2017 with hammers and clubs than by rifles, citing FBI statistics.

Smith, who represents 30 counties across south Missouri, is critical of some Democratic proposals, in response to the killings in El Paso and Dayton.

“You look at these two instances (El Paso and Dayton), they (suspects) both went through background checks. Assault weapons are banned. So the comment from members of Congress who say ‘let’s been ban assault weapons,’ they are banned,” says Smith.

Meantime, U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, is calling on Congress to approve legislation that would give local governments the authority to pass their own gun regulations.

The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports 13 children have been killed in shootings in the city of St. Louis in 2019.

Congressman Clay has called an urgent town meeting for Wednesday evening at 6:30 at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, to discuss gun violence. Clay says St. Louis and the nation “have reached a tipping point,” as easy access to guns has created what he calls a public health emergency.

Clay will be joined at Harris-Stowe by St. Louis Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed, Alderman John Muhammad, St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards and others. The meeting is open to the public.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, which was recorded on August 15, 2019 at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia:

Missouri Legislative Black Caucus asks to add gun violence legislation to special session in September, Parson says “not the correct avenue”

August 26, 2019 By Ashley Byrd

Missouri Legislative Black Caucus Chairman Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis, briefs Capitol reporters (file photo courtesy of Ben Peters at House Communications)

A group of state lawmakers wants to talk about gun violence in the special legislative session scheduled for September 11.

The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus has drafted a letter to Gov. Mike Parson, asking him to add consideration of a law to allow cities with high incidents of gun violence to pass their own gun control legislation. The governor called lawmakers back for a special session to clear up a vehicle sales tax technicality.

The MLBC argues that the rate of child deaths caused by shootings is a more serious matter. Caucus chairman, Rep. Steve Roberts of St. Louis says that since the letter was drafted, another child bystander was shot and killed, bringing the total to 13 this year.

Gov. Parson today denied that request and issued the following statement:

“While the issue of how to reduce violence in our urban areas certainly needs addressed [sic], there are also many different opinions on how to find a solution. However, special session is not the correct avenue. If we are to change violent criminal acts in Missouri, it will take all of us at the federal, state, local, and community levels working together toward that common goal,” said Governor Parson.

Caucus member Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, said, “Kansas City and St. Louis have shamefully and consistently ranked in the top ten deadliest cities for at least the past ten years. This is now a public health crisis. With double-digit numbers in both cities of children being murdered, it’s time to give individual municipalities the ability to regulate how weapons flow through our neighborhoods. We must change the law now.”

Groups sue Ashcroft for ‘robbing’ Missourians of vote on abortion regulations

August 23, 2019 By Alisa Nelson

Two groups are suing Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for his handling of an attempt to block new abortion regulations. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the No Bans on Choice Committee say Ashcroft refused to issue the ballot language needed to start collecting signatures for a public vote. In a press call on Thursday, representatives of the groups say Ashcroft robbed Missourians of 78 days by giving abortion rights advocates 14 days to collect 100,000 signatures.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft

“We had to face reality and we know that we can’t ask our volunteers in good faith to go after this impossible task of getting this many signatures in time,” says Robin Utz with the No Bans on Choice Committee. “Missouri’s Constitution is clear on the right to referendum – the people have 90 days to the gather signatures to put any law passed by the legislature up to a vote.”

Utz says she has not been a politically involved person in Missouri, but the issue is deeply personal to her. She had been trying for four years to get pregnant. In July 2016, she and her husband successfully pulled off their plans to have a family.

At a 21-week routine anatomy scan, Utz says they found out that their daughter, Grace Pearl, had a fatal fetal anomaly that would not develop the baby’s kidneys and lungs.

“Our doctors showed us in ultrasounds that it would be 100% fatal for her. This (referendum effort) matters so much,” Utz says. “People like me, would not be able to carry out humane acts for their very wanted children in the future with this ban. I would not have been able to have had an abortion and spared my daughter agony under this ban. I am not one of the statistical probabilities of why people even get an abortion in this state in every reason.”

She and her husband began testifying on a variety of different bills, including House Bill 126. The legislation, with many of the provisions taking effect next week, would ban abortions around eight weeks of pregnancy. Some medical emergencies are exceptions but not rape or incest.

At the State Fair last week, Ashcroft told Missourinet the ACLU did not file the referendum request in a timely manner. He said they could have filed the request before the law went into effect, which he said would have changed how the way his office approached the referendum. Ashcroft also said the petition took more investigation to make sure his office was following the law.

“The same organization (the ACLU) that was saying that I wasn’t listening to the voice of the people, was trying to stop me from having the statutorily-mandated 15 day comment period for the people of Missouri to comment on the referendums. By the end of that 15 day period, we had over 1,100 comments,” said Ashcroft.

In response to the lawsuit, Ashcroft’s office provided this statement:

“I am saddened in our society today, that frequently when organizations lose, their normal response is to whine and claim that the rules should not apply to them,” he said.

Under HB 126, physicians who violate the law would face five to fifteen years in prison. It would also forbid doctors from doing abortions if the baby would have Down syndrome or for sex or race-selective abortions. Additionally, the legislation requires both parents to be notified if a minor child wants an abortion.

Some Republicans in the Missouri Legislature have called the legislation the boldest and most comprehensive pro-life bill in the country.

Missouri Gaming Commission: illegal slot machines are impacting funding for education (AUDIO)

August 23, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Gaming Commission testified Thursday in Jefferson City that the state needs a coordinated effort to stop illegal slot machines.

Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, speaks on August 22, 2019 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Gaming Commission Executive Director David Grothaus testified before the House Special Interim Committee on Gaming. The issue of illegal slot machines dominated most of the two-hour hearing.

“We’re trying to coordinate efforts among law enforcement and prosecutors, trying to educate prosecutors on how to prosecute those cases,” Grothaus says.

Illegal slot machines are found in places like bars, restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores. Grothaus tells lawmakers that there’s one pending criminal case in western Missouri’s Platte County, in the Kansas City area.

Grothaus tells lawmakers that the Gaming Commission is providing assistance to law enforcement. He says what the state needs “is a very focused effort” on the illegal slot machines.

Mr. Grothaus testifies that any illegal gaming machines used in Missouri negatively impact casinos and the state Lottery, reducing taxes and funding for education and veterans. That grabbed the attention of committee chairman State Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial.

“These illegal (slot) machines, they’re everywhere,” Shaul tells Grothaus. “And I think it is probably hard to put a number on it, because they continue to grow everyday. I have several of them in my district.”

Shaul says the illegal machines “are everywhere” in the state and in his district in eastern Missouri’s Jefferson County. Chairman Shaul tells Grothaus it’s a problem.

“Because the people are very clear that they want regulated gaming,” says Shaul. “And they want to make sure when they go to take part in these games that they’re fair.”

Shaul tells Missourinet that he doesn’t want to hurt fraternal organizations, emphasizing that he’s a veteran.

Chairman Shaul emphasizes that no decisions have been made by the committee, and he describes the hearing as an “educational process.”

Meantime, a representative from Missouri’s 13 riverboat casinos also testified, urging the Gaming Commission to shut down all of the illegal slot machines in Missouri. That representative is also calling for criminal prosecutions.

The state’s 13 licensed riverboat casinos have a combined total of about 16,000 slot machines, Grothaus testifies.

Grothaus also testifies that the Gaming Commission has a memorandum of understanding with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He says state troopers are stationed on the 13 casinos, and perform duties such as regulatory investigations.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with House Special Interim Committee on Gaming Chairman Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, which was recorded on August 22, 2019 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

Butler County leads in number of Missouri Hepatitis A cases

August 22, 2019 By Alisa Nelson

The Department of Health and Senior Services says Missouri has had 414 Hepatitis A cases in 35 Missouri counties over a nearly two-year period. Butler County in southeast Missouri leads in the number of Hepatitis A cases with 108, followed by Franklin County in southeast Missouri with 69 and Howell County in southern Missouri with 45. View the rest of the counties on the list.

Butler County leads in number of Missouri Hepatitis A cases

Of the cases, 233 people have been treated at a hospital and two people have died from the disease.

The state says the disease appears to be spreading through direct person-to-person contact, mostly among people who use illicit injection or non-injection drugs and their close contacts. Local public health agencies are working to vaccinate at-risk populations, including those who use recreational drugs, are homeless, men having sex with men, are in treatment or counseling for mishandling substances, work in a jail or detention center or have been jailed and have close contact with these groups.

Hepatitis A is a viral infection of the liver that can cause loss of appetite, nausea, tiredness, fever, stomach pain, brown colored urine, and light-colored stools. Yellowing of the skin or eyes might also occur. People can become ill up to seven weeks after being exposed to the virus.
Hepatitis A usually spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food, or drinks contaminated by small, undetected amounts of stool (feces) from an infected person. In addition to vaccination, careful hand washing with soap and water, including under the fingernails, after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before preparing or eating food can help to prevent the spread of this disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 29 states have publicly reported the number of Hepatitis A cases since the outbreaks were first identified in 2016. More than 24,000 U.S. cases have been reported since then. View the nationwide information here.

Missouri governor calls special session on car sales; Quade blasts decision

August 21, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri lawmakers will return to Jefferson City in September for a special session involving a complicated Missouri Supreme Court ruling about vehicle sales.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs reporters at the State Fair in Sedalia on August 15, 2019 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

Governor Mike Parson (R) announced the special session today. Parson told Missourinet on Thursday at the State Fair that he was considering the special session over the Supreme Court’s “Kehlenbrink vs. Department of Revenue” case.

“After reviewing the court’s decision, we’ve decided to call a special session because it’s simply the right thing to do for the people of our state,” Parson announced today. “The enforcement of this decision would create a financial burden on Missouri taxpayers and unnecessary government red tape that we can proactively prevent.”

The Supreme Court case involves using the sale proceeds of a vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new vehicle when calculating sales tax. Essentially, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that state law unambiguously permits the sale proceeds of only one vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new car, for the purposes of calculating sales tax.

“And really, the simple version of it (the Supreme Court’s ruling) is when you trade cars in, for example if you trade two cars in, you get a credit back on those two cars or for that model if you’re buying another one. There was a ruling by the Supreme Court that says you can only do one,” Parson told Missourinet Thursday at the State Fair in Sedalia.

Parson said at the fair that the issue “needs to be fixed.” The governor says the ruling impacts about 2,000 to 3,000 Missourians, adding this is money out of their pocket.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, has issued a statement, saying Governor Parson is “putting taxpayers on the hook for unnecessary special session.”

“Roughly 100,000 Missouri children have lost their state health care coverage, but the Parson administration says there’s no problem. Missouri’s irresponsible and weak gun laws have contributed to a sharp spike in gun violence and recently enabled a heavily-armed man to cause a panic at a Springfield Wal-Mart, yet Governor Parson does nothing. There are several issues that demand immediate legislative attention and would justify the cost of a special session. Creating an unnecessary tax break for a handful of people isn’t one of them,” Quade’s statement says.

Governor Parson told Missourinet on Thursday that the special session would be technical, adding that “it would be a very limited special session.” The governor’s comments at the fair indicated that issues like Medicaid and guns were off-the-table for a special session.

Under the governor’s call, lawmakers will return to Jefferson City on September 9. The special session will run concurrently with the veto session, which begins on September 11.

Schmitt: Number of opioid overdose deaths should have urgency in U.S. and Missouri

August 21, 2019 By Alisa Nelson

State Attorney General Eric Schmitt says 130 people die every day from opioid overdoses.

“That’s like a plane going down every day of every week of every month,” he says.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt

In Missouri, he says the opioid overdose death toll is one in every 65 deaths. Missouri is the only state in the nation without a statewide prescription drug monitor system to check for suspected cases of opioid misuse.

At the State Fair, Schmitt tells Missourinet the figures should have some national and statewide urgency – prompting his office to sue three opioid companies alleging they misrepresented the addictive nature of the drugs.

“We want to hold them accountable. That’s a big thing for our office. It’s probably one of the biggest lawsuits we’ve had in the Attorney General’s Office since the tobacco litigation of the 1990s,” says Schmitt. We’re one of about 30 states that has something like this happening. All of those things are kind of coming to a head now. We’re learning more about some of the tactics and the marketing tactics and some of the deception that took place to get people hooked.”

The parties are developing their cases and the lawsuit is expected to eventually go to trial.

Schmitt’s office has launched an initiative to help bolster the state’s lawsuit. The initiative, called Real Opioid Pain, asks Missourians impacted by the opioid crisis to share their stories on realopioidpain.com

Rural Missouri businessman involved in “Field of Schemes” fraud commits suicide

August 20, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A prominent northern Missouri businessman who was sentenced to federal prison on Friday for a multi-million dollar grain fraud scheme has committed suicide.

61-year-old Randy Constant of Chillicothe also served at one time on the Chillicothe School Board.

He pleaded guilty in federal court in December in Iowa to one count of wire fraud, for a $142 million grain fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors in Cedar Rapids describe it as the “Field of Schemes” fraud, adding that it’s the largest organic fraud case in United States history.

Constant was sentenced to ten years in federal prison on Friday. Livingston County Coroner Scott Lindley tells Missourinet that he was called to a Chillicothe home Monday evening, and that he found Randy Constant dead inside the garage from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Lindley says it’s been ruled a suicide. Chillicothe Police say the investigation was conducted by police, emergency services and by Coroner Lindley.

In federal court on Friday, Constant admitted the grain fraud scheme involved more than $142 million. He also admitted that he misled customers into thinking they were buying certified organic grain when it was not organic.

Federal prosecutors and representatives from the FBI and USDA held a press conference on Monday morning in Cedar Rapids, and criticized Constant’s fraud.

Federal prosecutors say that from 2010 to 2017, he sold more than 11-million bushels of grain, and that more than 90 percent of it was falsely marketed as organic. The U.S. Attorney’s office notes that amount of grain would fill about 3,600 rail cars.

“We are proud to work alongside our law enforcement partners to bring to justice individuals who have so blatantly betrayed the trust of consumers,” FBI acting Special Agent in Charge Mark Green told reporters Monday in Cedar Rapids.

Three Nebraska farmers who were involved in the scheme were also sentenced to federal prison this week.

Missouri lawmakers could return to Jefferson City for special session, on vehicle sales

August 19, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor is considering calling a special legislative session this fall in Jefferson City, involving a June Missouri Supreme Court ruling about car sales.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson briefs reporters at the State Fair in Sedalia on August 15, 2019 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

Governor Mike Parson (R) made the announcement at the State Fair in Sedalia on Thursday, in response to questions from Missourinet.

“The special session, we are looking at a couple of issues that we maybe need to be fixed,” Parson says. “We’re going to take a look at that, we’re in that process right now.”

The Supreme Court case is called “Kehlenbrink vs. Department of Revenue”, and involves using the sale proceeds of a vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new vehicle when calculating sales tax.

Essentially, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that state law unambiguously permits the sale proceeds of only one vehicle as a credit against the purchase price of a new car, for the purposes of calculating sales tax.

The governor says the ruling impacts about 2,000 to 3,000 Missourians, adding this is money out of their pocket. He emphasizes the special session would be technical, adding that “it would be a very limited special session.”

Governor Parson did not indicate when the possible special session would take place. One possibility would be to coincide with the annual veto session, which will take place on September 11 at the Statehouse.

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