ST. LOUIS 鈥 A city circuit judge on Friday denied the state鈥檚 request to suspend Sheriff Alfred Montgomery from office, despite new federal criminal charges filed against him this week.
Judge Steven Ohmer said he needs to see the evidence of wrongdoing before ruling, and rebuked the Missouri Attorney General鈥檚 office for trying to 鈥渟hort-circuit鈥 the process.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to remove him based on argument, innuendo and news stories,鈥 Ohmer said. 鈥淭his case, like all cases, needs to be heard.鈥
The ruling means Montgomery remains in charge of an office that handles courtroom security, service of legal papers and transportation of city jail inmates 鈥 even while under house arrest and facing a hearing Tuesday that could land him in jail.
The five new charges at the center of Friday鈥檚 hearing accuse Montgomery of tampering with and retaliating against witnesses in a federal investigation into the February handcuffing of a 最新杏吧原创 jail official.
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An indictment unsealed Thursday describes recorded, expletive-laden calls in which Montgomery rails against people he believed were cooperating with law enforcement.
The new charges, all felonies, marked a significant escalation of the federal criminal case against Montgomery, who has pleaded not guilty. Previously, he faced a single misdemeanor civil rights charge, which carries a penalty of up to one year in prison. Now he faces up to 61 years.
The new charges also threatened to complicate his defense against the attorney general鈥檚 case in state court, which seeks his removal over the handcuffing incident and alleges he broke the law by refusing to properly transport city jail inmates and by having an on-duty deputy pick his children up from school.
Ohmer has twice denied requests to suspend Montgomery while the state case plays out 鈥 first noting that no crime had been alleged, and later, after the civil rights charge was filed, that it was only a misdemeanor.
In a filing late Thursday, the attorney general鈥檚 office argued that the felonies changed things.
The new charges, it said, were serious and showed Montgomery striking at a core plank of the criminal justice system.
The office said the charges also raised a practical problem: Montgomery is on house arrest.
鈥淧ut simply, Montgomery cannot adequately perform his duties while on house arrest, and if so ordered on Tuesday, from a pre-trial federal detention facility,鈥 the state said in a filing Thursday evening.
But at Friday鈥檚 hearing, Ohmer called the petition premature, said he needed to see the evidence in the case, and expressed frustration with the state鈥檚 repeated requests.
鈥淲e have another indictment. Wonderful,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y answer is still no.鈥
After referencing a Post-Dispatch article about the sheriff's recent controversies, Alderman Michael Browning questions Sheriff Alfred Montgomery on budget requests. Video courtesy of the City of 最新杏吧原创, edited by Jenna Jones.
