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Legal Roundtable unpacks rulings involving phone in Greitens case, 241-year sentence, DACA, more

Legal experts (from left) William Freivogel, Mark Smith and Brenda Talent touched on developments in the cases involving the Missouri governor as well as other matters pertaining to the law.
Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Legal experts (from left) William Freivogel, Mark Smith and Brenda Talent touched on developments in the cases involving the Missouri governor as well as other matters pertaining to the law.

On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh discussed the two felony charges facing Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens as well as other items of local interest pertaining to the law.

Three legal experts joined the conversation, which started with a look at the latest developments in the invasion-of-privacy case against Greitens. One focus of the discussion had to do with the judge’s ruling that the woman who was involved with Greitens must turn over her phone for a forensic investigation.

Brenda Talent, J.D., CEO of the Show-Me Institute, noted that it’s “not as if the phone is just being handed over to the defense team.”

“It’s going to an intermediary who will review, one would presume, the contents,” she said, “and determine what really should be disclosed to the defense team.”

Talent added that it’s “not uncommon” for victims in cases like this to be treated as if they were the ones on trial. Her fellow panelists agreed with that assessment.

“You can certainly see from the hairdresser’s point of view,” said William Frievogel, J.D., who is a journalism professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. “She probably is feeling pretty victimized at this point in that she was a reluctant participant in this at the beginning and was only drawn into this by the former husband releasing the tape he had taken of her to the media.”

Mark Smith, J.D., associate vice chancellor of students at Washington University, added that the hairdresser’s situation speaks to why people frequently decline to bring charges at all in such a case.

“That’s why the system doesn’t work,” Smith said, “and people who do these things oftentimes get away with it – because the remedy’s just so horrible.”

The panel also touched on, among other legal matters, a federal judge’s recent ruling on DACA as well as the news that the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by St. Louisan Bobby Bostic, who faces a 241-year sentence for armed robbery and other crimes committed over the course of a single day in 1995.

Listen to the full conversation:

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer,Evie Hemphill andLara Hamdan give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

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Lara is the Engagement Editor at St. Louis Public Radio.
Evie was a producer for "St. Louis on the Air" at St. Louis Public Radio.