ST. LOUIS – An attorney on Missouri Governor Eric Greitens’ legal team is filing a police report against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and her investigator in the Greitens case, William Tisaby, for alleged misconduct and perjury.
Attorney Ed Dowd said the prosecutor’s office dropped its invasion of privacy case against Greitens because there was no evidence of criminal activity against the governor. Judge Rex Burlison had approved the defense team’s request to allow Gardner to take the stand.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office dropped the case because it wants a special prosecutor to try the case. Monday marked the third day of jury selection in pre-trial activity.
Greitens was indicted in February for allegedly taking a photo of his mistress without her consent. The governor later admitted to the affair, which occurred in 2015 before he ran for public office.
The state could refile the invasion of privacy charge against Greitens at a later time, though it’s unclear if that can happen due to the statute of limitations.
Attorney Dowd said Gardner hired Tisaby as a private investigator rather than solicit the assistance of St. Louis police. The defense claims it has proof that Tisaby lied under oath and that he was paid well over his $10,000 retainer fee. Tisaby pleaded the Fifth during pre-trial hearings.
Dowd released the following statement just before noon Tuesday:
“Today, we will be filing a police report with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department regarding the perjury committed by the lead investigator for the Circuit Attorney’s Office in the case against Governor Greitens.
“That case collapsed yesterday and was dismissed. It was dismissed because there was no evidence of any crime. But the misconduct in this case should be addressed.
“That includes the lead investigator lying about his methods and the evidence he collected. In fact, that lead investigator, William Tisaby, refused to testify in a deposition about his perjury and misbehavior in the case, and he pleaded the Fifth in response to over 50 questions.
“Our defense team has over 100 years of experience combined, and we have never seen such outrageous misconduct. In addition to perjury, that includes $100,000 in secret cash payments for a witness or witnesses, payments that were concealed from our defense team by the Circuit Attorney’s Office. And if that weren’t enough, the Circuit Attorney and William Tisaby also met a number of times in secret with a major witness in the case. By law, both the Circuit Attorney and William Tisaby were required to testify about what was said and done in those secret meetings. Both refused to do so.
“This misconduct must be investigated. I have a lot of confidence in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and I am sure they will get to the bottom of the misdeeds and illegal activity in this case.”
