A recent sentence of five months’ probation in the high-profile case of Matthew McCulloch — who opened fire at a Halloween trunk-or-treat event — is an example of the challenges facing judges every day.
“Doing sentencing is the most difficult thing I think that trial judges do,” said Nannette Baker, who spent decades on the bench including five years as the chief magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Missouri. She said the decision can involve weighing an individual’s actions against mitigating factors like mental health, access to treatment and safety.
That tricky act of judicial balance is what took place in the case of McCulloch, a former police officer and the son of former St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch. In October 2023, while surrounded by hundreds of children and parents, he fired a dozen rounds into the air. Although no one was injured, parents and other victims urged St. Louis County Circuit Judge Ellen Ribaudo to send McCulloch to prison.
Baker noted that the judge’s decision took McCulloch’s medical history into account. At trial, a psychiatrist testified that McCulloch was having a manic episode related to bipolar disorder.
The sentence is also conditional on McCulloch having no contact with the victims and staying out of the city of Kirkwood.
“[Ribaudo] set some very specific conditions of his probation,” Baker said. “She is going to basically supervise that and make sure that he's following that, which I think is a better sentence than someone who spends, let's say, nine months in prison, comes out and doesn't have these types of conditions.”
But a sentence of probation outraged parents who experienced the shooting and fear that they would never again see their children alive. There is also the factor of McCulloch’s family connections and history as a police officer.
“I do think it really smacks of favoritism,” said attorney Bill Freivogel, an attorney and a professor at the School of Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
The discussion of Matthew McCulloch’s sentencing was one of several topics taken up on Tuesday’s Legal Roundtable edition of St. Louis on the Air. They included the latest on the bankruptcy proceedings of community radio station KDHX and revelations from ProPublica about the conduct of longtime St. Louis lawyer and current interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin.
Along with Nannette Baker and Bill Freivogel, the Legal Roundtable featured Sarah Swatosh, a labor and employment attorney who is in private practice at the Law Office of Sarah Swatosh.
To hear the full discussion of the Legal Roundtable, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
