51黑料

ST. LOUIS听鈥� Lawyers for Sheriff Alfred Montgomery on Wednesday accused the Missouri Attorney General鈥檚 Office of violating ethics rules by including false information about the sheriff hiring his half-brother in a lawsuit seeking Montgomery鈥檚 removal from office.

In a hearing in 51黑料, David Mason, a former city judge, presented Judge Steven Ohmer with birth certificates showing Montgomery鈥檚 father was not the same one listed for his deputy, Malik Taylor.

The space for a father鈥檚 name on Taylor鈥檚 certificate is blank, according to a copy provided to the Post-Dispatch. But Montgomery鈥檚 father was present to testify if needed, Mason told the judge.听

鈥淗e is not the father of the man alleged to be Malik Taylor,鈥澨齅ason said.

The accusations marked the start of what could become a fierce legal battle over whether Montgomery should be removed from office. In a lawsuit last month, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey鈥檚 office accused him of abusing his authority by hiring a relative, having a deputy pick up his children from school, refusing to transport city prisoners to the hospital and illegally detaining the city鈥檚 jail chief.

The first hearing in the case was held Wednesday. Over the course of about an hour, lawyers argued about whether Montgomery should remain in office while the case is pending. Montgomery鈥檚 lawyers rebutted claims made in the lawsuit.听And Judge Ohmer set a timeline for how the case would proceed, with a trial date of Nov. 10.

Montgomery appeared alongside his lawyers听鈥� Mason, who is being paid by the sheriff鈥檚 department, Matthew Ghio, who works for the sheriff鈥檚 office, and Justin Gelfand, who is being paid by Montgomery himself.听

Several current and former elected officials attended the hearing, including state Sen. Karla May, former state Rep. Wiley Price and Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier.

Sonnier, of Tower Grove East, said she had doubts about the case. She said the sheriff has made mistakes, but he hasn鈥檛 been charged with a crime. She expressed unease about the state removing an elected official chosen by city voters.听

鈥淚n an ideal world, it鈥檚 up to the people,鈥� she said.

Montgomery, 28, took office in January. Six weeks later, he ordered his deputies to handcuff the city鈥檚 deputy jail commissioner after accusing her of impeding his access to a detainee, according to his removal suit.

Mason didn鈥檛 refute that accusation on Wednesday but said it didn鈥檛 break the law or merit removal. It was, he said, a 鈥渙ne-time鈥� thing that wouldn鈥檛 happen again.

But the attorney general鈥檚 office and media reports have also raised questions about a deputy picking up Montgomery鈥檚 children from school in a sheriff鈥檚 vehicle.听

Mason said the deputy wasn鈥檛 on duty at the time. She picked up the kids, he said, because they had a close relationship听鈥� the children even called her 鈥淕randma.鈥�

鈥淪he has a right when she鈥檚 off duty to pick up those kids,鈥� Mason said.

Ohmer, a retired city judge appointed to oversee the case by the Missouri Supreme Court due to a conflict of interest with the 51黑料 court, repeatedly urged the attorneys not to make arguments about the underlying facts of the case.听

That would all come out in time, he said.听

But Gregory Goodwin, a lawyer for Bailey鈥檚 office, argued that Montgomery should be removed while the case was pending.

To illustrate his point, he said the sheriff鈥檚 office has declined 10 times over the last couple of weeks to take inmates from the city jail to the hospital, as deputies typically do.

On July 4, Montgomery鈥檚 office refused to transport an inmate needing emergency surgery. Over the past several days, deputies didn鈥檛 transfer two people to the Missouri Department of Mental Health for evaluations. They also refused to take a man to the hospital for an allergic reaction.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 obvious Mr. Montgomery isn鈥檛 going to do the right thing and carry out his obligations,鈥� Goodwin said.

Mason said Montgomery wasn鈥檛 to blame: The city is.

The city pays for, oversees and staffs its downtown justice center. But historically, sheriffs have taken the responsibility of moving inmates from the jail to court and back and transporting them elsewhere when needed for medical care.听

Mason said Montgomery鈥檚 office was understaffed those days and couldn鈥檛 spare the people to take inmates to the hospital.

Ohmer declined to remove Montgomery from office while the case was pending. He said in other similar proceedings across the state, the officials had been charged with a crime. The accusations against Montgomery, while in some cases 鈥渄isturbing,鈥� were not criminal, he said.听

鈥淲e鈥檒l see what the evidence brings,鈥� he said.

At a news conference roughly two hours after the hearing, Montgomery stood beside his lawyers while they took questions from the press.听

Mason and Gelfand maintained that their client had done nothing to merit removal and outlined many of the arguments they鈥檇 delivered in court.听

Mason also said he was planning to call Bailey himself to sit for a deposition and answer questions as well as the jail鈥檚 health provider and deputy jail commissioner who was handcuffed.

Mason urged people not to jump to conclusions about Montgomery鈥檚 guilt.听

鈥淒on鈥檛 believe the hype,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is a court of law.鈥�

The next hearing in the case is set for Aug. 29.

Post-Dispatch reporter Austin Huguelet contributed.

Updated at 3:45 p.m.