St. Louis Detective and Prosecutor Sentenced By Federal Court

Let’s see if we can figure this out, and why it takes digging into several media sources to get all of the details.  Seriously, my research about this case took me back to July 2014, and online news sources St. Louis Today, Fox news, and the Washington Times.

On July 22, 2014, St. Louis, MO police detective Thomas A. Carroll assaulted handcuffed suspect, Michael Waller.  He didn’t report it to superiors and assisted in filing charges against Waller.

Thomas A. Carroll (photo by J.B. Forbes)

After 25 years on the job, Carroll was suspended without pay in late July 2014 amid ongoing criminal and internal investigations that is said to have involved the FBI.  Subsequently, Carroll retired.  Internal affairs charged Carroll with failure to follow an order.

Michael Waller was charged on July 23, 2014 with receiving stolen property and fraudulent use of a credit card, along with an escape charge relative to resisting arrest.  He was allegedly in possession of a stolen credit card that belonged to Carroll’s daughter.  His booking photo shows that he had a black-eye.

Two St. Louis prosecutors, Bliss Worrell and Katherine Dierdorf, were forced to leave their jobs because of their knowledge of events, and the circumstances related to charging Waller.  There was investigation that Carroll was giving prosecutors unauthorized ride-alongs that included allowing them to use his taser on suspects.  The same day that Worrell and Dierdorf left their jobs, the charges against Waller were dismissed.

Michael Waller

In October 2015, former prosecutor Worrell pleaded guilty to a felony charge of misprision of a felony.  In January 2016, Worrell’s license to practice law was temporary suspended.  The suspension is in place pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings by the Missouri Supreme Court’s Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel.

Last week, Bliss Worrell was sentenced to 18 months of probation and 140 hours of community service.

Thomas A. Carroll, the former city police detective, was charged with the federal offense of violating Waller’s civil rights. On Wednesday, July 27, 2016, Carroll was sentenced to 52 months in federal prison after a two-day hearing detailing Worrell’s and Dierdorf’s cover-ups.

According to the DOJ’s press release;

“It’s a sad day when a uniformed police officer is sent to prison for violating the constitutional rights of a citizen,” said U.S. Attorney Dickinson.  “No one is above the law, and no one has the right to take the law into their own hands.  Now this disgraced officer will face the consequences of his violent crime.  Our system of justice will hold him accountable for his betrayal of the community he swore to protect and serve.”

Before sentencing, Federal court Judge Autrey reminded Carroll that even someone possessing his daughter’s stolen credit card has civil rights.

St. Louis Today reports that Katie Dierdorf’s  license to practice law is listed as inactive in Missouri, but active in Colorado where she is a public defender.

As Baltimore, Maryland State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby stated last week when announcing that charges against the remaining Baltimore 6 charged in the death of Freddie Gray were dismissed,;

“As you can see, whether investigating, interrogating, testifying, cooperating, or even complying with the state, we all bore witness to an inherent bias that is the direct result of when police police themselves.”

It’s been a year since the Department of Justice launched a federal civil rights investigation of the Baltimore Police Department.   In the case in St. Louis, Michael Waller who was handcuffed when beaten, lived to testify what happened to him that violated his civil rights.  Freddie Gray, who was also handcuffed and shackled while in the police van ended up with 80 percent of his spine severed.  He is dead.  The DOJ might not get a result of charges, convictions, and sentencing of anyone for violating Freddie’s civil rights because he cannot testify on his own behalf.

We’ll wait and see how the system works.