> Appeals court backs expungement for gun-waving Central West End couple

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/cri … -top-story

Homeowners Mark and Patricia McCloskey stand in front their house along Portland Place as they confront protesters marching to St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's house Sunday, June 28, 2020, in the Central West End of St. Louis. No shots were fired and the protesters marched on. The protesters called for Krewson's resignation for releasing the names and addresses of residents who suggested defunding the police department.

JEFFERSON CITY — A St. Louis lawyer and his wife who pointed guns at racial justice protesters in 2020 may be a step closer to getting their firearms back following a court decision Tuesday.

The Eastern District Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the 2024 decision to expunge the misdemeanor convictions of Mark and Patricia McCloskey over the objections of city prosecutors and police.

A three-judge panel found the circuit court judge did not err in determining the couple met the criteria for expungement after they gained notoriety for displaying their weapons outside of their Central West End mansion as protesters moved through the neighborhood.

Chief Judge John Torbitzky, who authored the seven-page decision, dismissed the police department’s claims that the two were a threat to public safety.

“The circuit court provided an adequate opportunity for the department to make an offer of proof, but the department failed to make use of that opportunity,” Torbitzky wrote.

Immediately after his conviction was cleared last year, Mark McCloskey demanded the city return the two guns that were seized as part of his guilty plea to misdemeanor assault.

McCloskey sued for the return of the firearms, but that case was suspended while his appeal was pending.

A hearing in that case is set for December.

The appeals court ruling marks the latest development in a saga that began in the summer of 2020 when McCloskey and his wife, Patricia, emerged from their home on Portland Place and waved guns at people walking by during a protest of the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

The McCloskeys, who said they were protecting their property from protesters trespassing on the private street, were charged by former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner with multiple felonies. Gardner was later disqualified from prosecuting them after mentioning their case in campaign emails.

A special prosecutor took over and indicted the McCloskeys on felony charges of unlawful use of a weapon and evidence tampering. They later reached an agreement in which Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault and his wife, Patricia McCloskey, pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment, both misdemeanors.

As part of that agreement, the McCloskeys surrendered the Colt AR-15 rifle and a Bryco .380-caliber pistol they were holding during the confrontation on Portland Place and paid a fine of $872.50.

Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, later pardoned the couple, and McCloskey sued in 2021 to get his guns back. Judges denied that request and a subsequent appeal.