St. Louis-- The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District ruled late this afternoon that a St. Louis County Judge abused his discretion by removing a foreperson from a grand jury. The Court directed the Judge supervising the Grand Jury to immediately adjourn the Grand Jury. The Court found “that the record properly before us is entirely inadequate to justify Relator’s removal from the Grand Jury for cause.”
John Roe was selected to be the foreperson of the Grand Jury of St. Louis County for the September 2015 term and served in that capacity for two weeks. That’s when Judge Steven H. Goldman, at the request of Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch, removed Roe even though he met all of the requirements and no misconduct is alleged. On October 16, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri asked the Missouri Court of Appeals to review the decision to remove Roe.
“The Court properly recognized that the Judge acted outside his authority in removing the Grand Juror,” explains Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri. “It is disappointing that St. Louis County’s decision to put secret information about the Grand Jury’s proceedings into the public record will force the discharge of an entire grand jury that was acting independently.”
