Court Watch

Our municipal court is an important part of the full public safety picture in Ferguson. In this, the first of an ongoing series, we analyze a weekly docket in our city’s court. Because there is a delay between filing of charges, hearings, and posting of results to Casenet, our analysis will always be for cases a couple of months in the past. Today’s analysis includes 59 cases which were filed the week of July 24, 2023.

Of those 59 cases, 38 defendants failed to appear, 64%. The charges for defendants who failed to appear included everything from parking and grass violations, to driving while revoked, child endangerment, and assault. Of the remaining 21 defendants, 10 were continued to a future court date, and one was set for trial. That left 10 cases that were actually concluded. The specifics on those cases:

• Alana Harmon, of Ferguson, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident in June. That charge was amended to littering, with a fine of $200.
• Anthony Bradley, of Ferguson, was charged with running a stop sign in July. That charge was amended to parking, with a fine of $70.
• Onya Griffin, of Dellwood, was charged with driving while suspended in July. That charge was amended to parking, with a fine of $91.
• Eugene Bickley was charged with running a stop sign in July. That charge was amended to parking, with a fine of $60.
• Howard Beeks, of Chicago, was charged with running a red light in July. He took the points and paid a fine of $60.
• Cecilia Davis, Catherine Ridgel, and Arvis Young, received and paid parking tickets totaling $81.

Total court fines for the week amounted to $562.

Non-traffic violations follow. Case numbers can be clicked for details from Casenet.