Filing from the defense contends ex-mistress may have seen cell phone “in a dream”
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Attorneys defending Missouri’s Governor are attempting to raise doubts against the felony invasion-of-privacy Grand Jury indictment with allegations the woman involved in the affair may have seen a cell phone “in a dream.”
Greitens is accused of taking a nonconsensual photograph of the woman with whom he had an affair with while she was bound, blindfolded, and partially nude. In a recorded conversation between the woman and her now ex-husband — made available to the media by the ex-husband — she claims to have seen a flash through the blindfold followed by Greitens saying: “You’re never going to mention my name, otherwise there will be pictures of me everywhere.”
In a recent court filing, Greitens’ legal team contends that the woman testified during a deposition that she never saw Greitens with a camera or a phone on the day he is accused of taking the photograph and that the prosecutors withheld information that supports his innocence.
“Of note, the sworn testimony established that [the woman] never saw a photograph, has no evidence of transmission of any image, and that any assertion by [the woman] that she saw a phone on the day in question was based on a dream or vision,” the filing states.
After acknowledging she hadn’t seen a camera or phone, she was asked if she saw what she believed to be a phone. She responded, according to court filings, “I haven’t talked about it because I don’t know if it’s because I’m remembering it through a dream or I — I’m not sure, but yes, I feel like I saw it after that happened.”
According to the court filing, Greitens’ former-mistress sent partially nude images of herself to him just months after the alleged incident took place. The governor’s legal team cites that as an indication she didn’t feel like her privacy had been violated.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office responded that the governor is attacking the victim, cherry-picking testimony, and trying to score points through the media.
“In this situation, the defense team has cherry-picked bits and pieces of the victim’s nine-hour deposition to attack her credibility. There is nothing substantially new about the victim’s testimony in the deposition, including the fact that the video camera had malfunctioned. The prosecution has complied with all discovery rules and will continue to do so as required by law,” the statement said. “Week after week, the defense team continues to waste the court’s time with their frivolous motions. It’s clear with these motions, and the hiring of a public relations firm that sends out press releases and court filings to select media, that they are playing political games.”
The governor has denied the allegation of blackmail but hasn’t directly answered if he took a photograph or not. He was indicted by a grand jury in February for felony invasion-of-privacy regarding the incident.
In February, one of Greitens’ attorneys told a judge that he had been informed by prosecutors that the photo doesn’t exist.
First Assistant Circuit Attorney Robert Steele the attorney was incorrect, telling the Kansas City Star that they did not have the photo in their possession at the time.
“We plan to get that picture,” he said.
The motion from Greitens’ defense team comes as they have been urging a special Missouri House committee to delay its own investigatory report — planned to be released this week — until after Greitens’ trial which starts May 14.
Alisha Shurr was a reporter for The Missouri Times and The Missouri Times Magazine. She joined The Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University.
