ST. LOUIS — "I think this has gotten worse and worse for her and I think she just threw in the towel and said enough," St. Louis University law professor and 5 On Your Side legal analyst Dr. Anders Walker said.
An embattled and controversial Kim Gardner is gone as St. Louis Circuit Attorney 16 days early before her official June first resignation.
"I'm not very surprised that she stepped down today, given the upcoming court proceeding that was scheduled this afternoon," recently retired St. Louis federal judge and 5 On Your Side legal analyst Nannette Baker said.
Among other things, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey accused Gardner of failing to do her job and breaking the law by taking nursing classes.
Gardner's office denied the claims.
"One of the things that she was trying to do was to quash the subpoena that was asking for her school records," added Baker.
Right after her resignation, Gardner's team filed a motion to dismiss the quo warranto case.
In court Tuesday, a judge took the motion under advisement and scheduled another court date for next week.
A big question now: What's next for Gardner?
"Yeah, I think we'd all like to know," Baker said.
"It's been a very rough six months and for Gardner herself she's probably looking forward to taking a break," said Dr. Walker.
Walker and Baker both agree now that Kim Gardner is gone, one massive mess remains.
"The real tragedy here is the fact that you have so many cases, cases that have been pending for so long," Baker added.
Thousands of cases that still must be prosecuted, after multiple lawyers recently left the circuit attorney's office.
Cases, analysts say, will fall on Gardner's successor.
"Everyone is going to have to have some patience. This is not going to happen overnight," Baker said.
"I think things are going to be reversed. We'll get back into the business of prosecution and some of the chaos will hopefully die down," Walker said.
Walker and Baker say rebuilding the circuit attorney's office could take a minimum of six months.
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