ST. LOUIS– Former U.S. attorney Richard Callahan has been tapped to be a special prosecutor in the case involving the gun-waving St. Louis couple accused of illegally waving the weapons at protestors.
Our partners at the Post-Dispatch report a judge appointed Callahan to the role this morning.
The appointment of a special prosecutor comes more than two months after a judge disqualified Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner from prosecuting Patricia and Mark McCloskey. The judge ruled she created an appearance of impropriety by mentioning the McCloskey case in a fundraising email.
A judge disqualified St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office from prosecuting Mark McCloskey’s case in December. The judge said that evidence in Gardner’s emails infringed on the McCloskey’s right to a fair trial. It is unclear whether this means that the case will be dropped.
A Missouri appeals court has denied Gardner’s appeal challenging the disqualification of her office from prosecuting the McCloskey’s.
The couple faces felony charges for unlawful use of weapons and tampering with physical evidence. They have pled not guilty.
The McCloskey’s confronted protestors with their guns this summer. The demonstrators were walking past their Central West End mansion. They were on a private street and on their way to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home.
