ST. LOUIS _ Attorneys for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens are trying to block a search of his personal email, court filings made public Monday show.
The defense motion seeks to quash a May 3 search warrant for Greitens' Gmail account, which was sought by Anthony Box, the lead investigator for the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office.
The defense motion says Box cited an unusual "uptick in activity" in the email account after an investigation was announced. Box also claimed that most, if not all, of the activity was coming from one of the law firms representing the Republican governor, Dowd Bennett. The motion quotes Box as concluding "that there may have been efforts to access or delete the photo in question."
The defense motion says what Box describes is normal activity when a law firm begins to investigate accusations against a client. It says there's no evidence to support Box's "absurd and unsupportable allegation." It says the search warrant application also is lacking because it provides no evidence that Greitens' accuser had a reasonable expectation of privacy, as required by law.
The search warrant application itself is sealed. It's not clear why the application was filed less than two weeks before trial, or if other accounts had already been searched.
In other filings:
_ Prosecutors argued several pieces of evidence should be admissible at trial, including witness observations of Greitens' "bizarre or peculiar behavior," expert testimony of a cellphone's ability to transmit data; and evidence of the governor's unwillingness to answer questions about certain accusations. Prosecutors also argued that the audio recordings made by the ex-husband of Greitens' accuser should be admitted.
The state's filing objects to the defense's argument that Greitens' accuser should not be referred to as a victim. Prosecutors also argued that the woman's testimony should not be excluded, as the defense has maintained.
_ Defense lawyers say Greitens shouldn't have to turn his cellphone or military records over to prosecutors. They say prosecutors used the improper motion to seek the records, and the requirement that he do so would violate his "Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination" by demanding that he "produce objects that contain his own statements" and essentially "be a witness against himself."
_ Chief Trial Assistant Robert Dierker called defense motions to dismiss the case and toss out evidence and witnesses "sophistry without substance" and "preposterous."
Investigators did not alter the testimony of Greitens' accuser simply by interviewing her, Dierker wrote.
Her testimony has been consistent throughout two interviews with investigators, her grand jury testimony and depositions, he wrote. She said she saw a flash and heard the sound an iPhone makes when taking a picture, he wrote. Greitens threatened to spread the picture "everywhere" if she revealed anything about their encounter, Dierker wrote, and later claimed to have deleted it.
The motivation of her ex-husband to out the incident, including any payments he or his lawyer received, is irrelevant to the criminal case.
_ The motion to dismiss the case was improper and premature, Dierker said, as it came before the trial had even begun and the state's evidence had been introduced. He said any defense arguments that the woman had no expectation of privacy during an allegedly consensual sexual encounter with Greitens was a misreading of the law.
Greitens' trial on the felony invasion of privacy charge is set for May 14. Jury selection begins Thursday.
In statements to a House committee investigating Greitens, the woman accused Greitens of violent behavior and initiating sexual contact without her consent. She also said that Greitens threatened to release the photo if she told anyone about their encounter.
Greitens has denied blackmailing the woman and has called the investigation a "political witch hunt."
