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Mayor calls for review of justice's son's case dismissal [Charleston Daily Mail, W.Va. :: ](Charleston Daily Mail (WV) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 27--Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said county prosecutors may have miscalculated when they filed to dismiss a felony malicious wounding charge against the son of a state Supreme Court justice. Jones said he believed the case against Edward Gardner, the 27-year-old son of state Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman, should be reviewed again after hearing what a witness recalled from the night of Aug. 5. on MetroNews Talkline Tuesday morning. "I just think it needs to be looked at again to make sure that justice was dealt," Jones said. "I'm not (trying to question anyone's integrity) and if anybody says I am they're incorrect. "I'm not even questioning judgment, I just think a miscalculation has been made here. I think we need to recalculate and look at it again." Lisa Pollitt, who does not live in West Virginia but is staying with family in Quarry Creek, described the evening on the radio show as she had in her statement to Charleston police. She said she was driving to her parents' home in Quarry Creek about 9:45 p.m. when she came upon two vehicles parked in the road and a man on the side of the road straddling and trying to lift 29-year-old Lindsey Gardner by the waist. She said the man then dropped the woman, got into one of the cars and drove off. "I didn't realize it was a person (being lifted) at first because of the angle," Pollitt told the Daily Mail Tuesday afternoon. "I kind of drove a little bit beyond but kept paying attention to the situation. I stopped when I saw it was a girl that had been hurt." She walked back to the scene and saw two other people trying to help Lindsey Gardner. One person, a female witness, was holding a towel to Lindsey's head while a male witness called 911. The male witness told police he'd found Lindsey Gardner "knocked out" along the road, according to a criminal report obtained by the Daily Mail under the Freedom of Information Act. "She was speaking," Pollitt said. "She was saying 'he kicked me three times in the head,' and 'he tried to kill me.'" Pollitt, 37, said she does not know Lindsey Gardner, Edward Gardner or any of the other witnesses, none of whom live in Quarry Creek. Lindsey Gardner also told the two other witnesses that her brother had kicked her in the head three times. Paramedics took Lindsey Gardner to Charleston Area Medical Center's General Hospital, where physicians' initial diagnosis was a scalp laceration, concussion and possible skull fracture. She remained in the hospital for four days, some of which was spent in serious condition in intensive care. Charleston Patrolman Christopher Lioi, one of the officers who responded to the 911 call, tried to get a statement from Lindsey Gardner at the hospital but she refused. Cpl. D.S. Paxton spoke to Workman, who was at the hospital with her daughter. The justice told officers Lindsey and Edward were arguing before the incident but she didn't know why. She said her daughter called Edward's girlfriend, Mayra Jaimes, inappropriate names. Jamies' name was incorrectly listed as Myra Jimez in the initial police report. Workman told police she couldn't reach her son but thought he went back to Huntington, where he lives. She said she'd hired Charleston attorney Jesse Forbes on her son's behalf. Edward Gardner turned himself in just after 9 a.m. Aug. 6. He was charged with felony malicious wounding and released that morning on a $25,000 property or $2,500 cash bond. He had a scrape on his hand and a large brownish-red stain on the bottom of his shoe when he turned himself in, according to the report. The shoes were taken as evidence and sent to the State Police Crime Lab for analysis. The evidence has not been returned, police said. Mayor Jones said the police report wasn't a "product" when Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Chuck Miller, the office's chief of staff, announced the decision last Wednesday to file a motion in Kanawha Magistrate Court to dismiss a felony malicious wounding charge against Edward Gardner. Magistrate Pete Lopez dismissed the charge on Aug. 20. Messages left Tuesday afternoon for Miller were not returned. Miller said then that Lindsey Gardner and Edward Gardner were supposed to meet that day but that when the battery in Edward's phone died the siblings got confused about where they were supposed to meet and Edward was late. He said when they did encounter each other near their mother's Quarry Creek home, Lindsey was angry and punched Edward. "He pushed her away, and that's when she stumbled and fell," Miller said last week. Lindsey Gardner initially declined, through her mother, to allow investigators to photograph her injuries while she was in the hospital. Detectives told Miller of her decision and he said he had a "good relationship" with Workman and that he would go to the hospital to try to explain why the photos were needed, according to the report. Detectives were allowed to photograph Lindsey Gardner after a brief conversation between Miller and Workman. Miller notified detectives Aug. 15, 10 days after the incident, that Lindsey Gardner was ready to give a statement. She spoke to detectives at her mother's home. She said she and Edward Gardner were arguing over French language software and that she started attacking him. He shoved her "in defense," the report said. She fell and struck her head, causing a wound that required multiple staples to close. She told police she didn't recall what happened after she fell and that she'd been "talking out of her head," the report said. "Ms. Gardner, confused and somewhat addled, made the statement that her brother kicked her in the head," Miller said then. "There's nothing that indicates that she was kicked at all." Neither detectives nor prosecutors took a statement from Edward Gardner. Jaimes gave a statement to authorities through Bailey Glasser law firm. She said Lindsey Gardner was waiting in her car when they arrived at Workman's house. Jaimes said a "very angry" Lindsey Gardner got out of the car and then threw a punch at Edward Gardner. Edward Gardner pushed her away from him and she fell, Jaimes said. She said it all happened in the street in front of Workman's house and that Edward Gardner had been trying to move his sister out of the street. Jaimes said she got out of the car when Lindsey Gardner fell and tried to help her when she saw the blood coming from her head. "But Lindsey was very combative, calling Mayra names like 'b--' and racial names," Jaimes said in her statement. "Lindsey did not want Mayra anywhere near her." Edward Gardner yelled for his mother to call an ambulance because his sister was hurt, she said. Jaimes said there were cars trying to get around them so they got in the car and left, leaving Lindsey Gardner lying on the side of the road. Miller said last week the announcement was made because there was concern over how any reference of felony charges could affect Edward Gardner's future. A student at Marshall University, he plans to soon begin medical school, prosecutors said. Mayor Jones said the police department isn't comfortable with the handling of the case. Police Chief Brent Webster said last week he stood by officers' report. Jones said the matter has "presented a real problem." He said he, Workman and Miller "grew up in public life together" and that he knows them both and likes them. He speculated over whether a special prosecutor was needed and said Don Morris would be a good choice. Morris, who is handling certain Kanawha County domestic violence cases involving children, said the case is out of his jurisdiction. "I just want some finality to it and I'm not sure we're there yet," Jones said. "I just think there's unanswered questions and I don't think the documents were available at the time the decisions were made. I just would like to see it looked at again." He said he would be satisfied if there was new evidence found and the case was reopened and put before a Grand Jury. Contact writer Ashley B. Craig at [email protected] or 304-348-4850. ___ (c)2014 the Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va.) Visit the Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va.) at www.dailymail.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |