Another prosecutor left the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office today — and wrote a blistering resignation letter on her way out.
Up until today, Natalia Ogurkiewicz had been an assistant circuit attorney working in the office's Violent Crimes Unit. Among the many cases she oversaw during her tenure was the successful prosecutions of would-be serial killer Prinshun McClain.
Ogurkiewicz informed Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner of her departure via email, and the RFT obtained a copy. In the email, Ogurkiewicz says, "Thank you for making my dream of being a homicide prosecutor come true. I am so grateful, but the Supreme Court of Missouri has made it clear that when the choice between committing malpractice and resignation is the only option, resignation is what must happen."
The email contained an attachment consisting of a longer letter from Ogurkiewicz. It begins, "In my opinion, my workload (not only the caseload), is, and has been, completely untenable for one person."
Ogurkiewicz goes on to say that low staffing levels have forced her to do tasks that in most prosecutors' offices would be handled by support staff. In addition to being a prosecutor, Ogurkiewicz says she has essentially been forced to be a paralegal, victim service advocate and investigator.
"One paralegal to five or six attorneys handling large caseloads with most cases set for trial is entirely insufficient," she writes.
She called the overall work environment at the CAO "toxic."
The letter recounts a time when a staff attorney who has since left the office voiced a complaint about how hard it is to balance Warrant Office duties with trying cases.
"He was met with being reeled out by a supervisor for saying such a thing," Ogurkiewicz writes.
Ogurkiewicz says in the letter that when she talked to supervisors about the untenable workload, she was told to "ask for help." But since everyone in the Circuit Attorney's Office was overworked, it was not clear who to ask.
The final bullet point in Ogurkiewicz's resignation letter concerns Gardner's recent responses to Attorney General Andrew Bailey's quo warranto action, which seeks to remove Gardner from office. Gardner’s attorneys argued in recent court filings that mistakes made by her staff attorneys cannot warrant her removal from office, saying, “If the Attorney General believes an assistant circuit attorney has…forfeited his or her office, the remedy is not to seek Ms. Gardner’s ouster, but to seek that person’s ouster.”
Closing out her letter, Ogurkiewicz says, "I will not work for a leader who makes public statements outright calling her attorneys 'negligent' and implying their incompetence … and then doubling down on that position while facially representing respect, appreciation, and support."
The letter closes: "As a St. Louis City resident, I have lost trust in Kim Gardner from the inside. I do not believe that her leadership can stop the metaphorical and physical ballistics from continuing to fly through our City."
Reached for comment, Circuit Attorney's Office spokeswoman Allison Hawk said in a statement, "The Circuit Attorney’s Office is taking the necessary measures to ensure justice is served in all cases including working with the courts to make sure the proper contingencies are in place. The office can't speak on personnel matters. The CAO continues to aggressively recruit and hire attorneys and support staff to serve the people of the city of St. Louis."
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