Ousted St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery wants a new trial.
Montgomery was removed late last year by St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven R. Ohmer, a retired judge appointed to the case, at the request of the Missouri attorney general’s office.
Ohmer found Montgomery exceeded his legal authority in two incidents — handcuffing then-acting jail administrator Tammy Ross and temporarily taking a firearm from former sheriff’s deputy Darryl Wilson. The judge rejected the other four allegations brought by Attorney General Catherine Hanaway.
In a motion filed this week, Montgomery’s attorneys — David C. Mason, Justin Gelfand and Matt Ghio — argue the court failed to resolve a central legal question: the scope of authority granted to the St. Louis sheriff under a 2018 amendment to state law that explicitly designates the office as a law enforcement agency.
Under that statute, the sheriff may enforce state criminal law when such actions are incidental to duties performed by the office.
The motion contends the court acknowledged both incidents arose from internal affairs investigations and involved largely undisputed facts, but still concluded Montgomery unlawfully enforced criminal law without clearly explaining how those actions fell outside his statutory authority.
Montgomery’s lawyers also argue the court erred by declining to consider whether the sheriff acted in reasonable, good faith — an issue they say Missouri courts have never definitively resolved in cases involving quo warranto.
“This test of objective reasonableness is one underpinned by a good faith belief that should be a defense to the assertion that a sheriff willfully neglected an official duty,” the attorneys wrote in the motion. “To not allow such a defense is a perversion of justice and flies in the face of how law enforcement officers are treated on a daily basis.”
The motion further asserts the attorney general failed to meet the burden of proof on several counts and asks the court to either grant a new trial or amend its judgment and deny the ouster petition altogether.
Montgomery remains jailed in federal custody after allegedly harassing witnesses in a related but separate federal case.
Neither a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office nor Montgomery’s attorneys immediately responded to requests for comment.
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer, the Board of Aldermen and the attorney general’s office are deadlocked on who has the authority to select Montgomery’s permanent replacement.
The board was recently booted from an attempt to sue over what it argues is its right to replace the sheriff.
