A felony assault charge has been filed against former Jefferson County Div. 3 Circuit Judge Nathan Stewart in connection with a traffic accident in November 2016.
A second-degree assault charge was filed June 14, accusing Stewart of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, resulting in injury. The charge is a class C felony punishable by three to 10 years in prison.
Since Stewart, 51, of Hillsboro previously was a judge in the county, a special prosecutor has been assigned to the case – Stephanie Watson of the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services.
In addition, the Missouri Supreme Court has been asked to appoint a special judge, who will be asked to issue an arrest warrant against Stewart, court records show.
As of Monday, a judge had not been assigned, according to court documents.
Stewart had worked as a judge for 18 years in Jefferson County before losing his seat in the Nov. 8, 2016, election. He completed his term on Dec. 31.
A month before that, on Nov. 29, 2016, Stewart was driving a Cadillac Escalade south on Hwy. BB in the Hillsboro area when the right tires ran off the right side of the road. The SUV hit a utility pole that fell onto the highway, leaving live electrical wires across the road, according to the probable-cause statement in the case.
The SUV overturned and left both Stewart and his passenger, John F.
Dietrich, 51, of Hillsboro trapped in the vehicle. Dietrich’s hand was hurt in the wreck, and he was transported from the scene to St. Anthony’s Medical Center in south St. Louis County for treatment, the report said.
Stewart appeared uninjured “except for a small laceration on his hand” and refused treatment at the scene, according to the report.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper who responded to the accident said Stewart “was staggering and stumbled several times” and “was having difficulty following simple instructions,” the probable-cause statement said.
The trooper said Stewart’s “eyes were bloodshot and extremely glassy,” adding that Stewart “had a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage coming from his breath and his speech was slurred,” according to the report.
Stewart refused to take a breath test and told the trooper he had one margarita at the El Mariachi Mexican restaurant in House Springs prior to the wreck. However, the trooper said Stewart displayed “obvious signs of impairment” and arrested him for allegedly driving while intoxicated and transported him to the Jefferson County Jail, the report said.
Later, the trooper went to St. Anthony’s and spoke with Dietrich. The trooper said Dietrich also “appeared to be intoxicated,” the probable-cause statement said. Dietrich told the trooper that he and Stewart had been at the Mexican restaurant and had been drinking but wouldn’t say how much, the report said.
The trooper said that “Dietrich repeatedly asked (him) not to do anything bad to Stewart, stating they had been best friends for a very long time.” In addition, Dietrich also “repeatedly stated Stewart was a great guy and he didn’t want to see anything bad happen to him,” according to the report.
The next day, the trooper contacted the woman who had been Stewart’s and Dietrich’s waitress at El Mariachi the night before, and she said that Stewart was a “regular customer and usually did not drink more than one margarita while he was there, but had four on the evening of Nov. 29, 2016,” the probable-cause statement said.
The trooper said he got a copy of the “guest receipt” that indicated that “Stewart and Dietrich purchased eight jumbo margaritas,” the report said.
El Mariachi’s current menu online says a jumbo margarita is 27 ounces. A margarita typically includes tequila, lime juice and other ingredients.
Since Stewart reportedly refused to take a breath test the night of his arrest, his driver’s license was revoked, as allowed for under Missouri’s “implied consent law.”
On Dec. 2, attorney Michael Lowry filed a petition on Stewart’s behalf asking the court to review the license revocation. That case is pending, as is the criminal assault case against Stewart.
Neither Stewart nor Lowry returned a call for comment on Monday.
Court records don’t list an attorney for Stewart in the assault case.
In the license revocation case, Jefferson County Div. 11 Associate Circuit Judge Brenda Stacey ruled on Dec. 7 in favor of Lowry’s request for Level 4 Security, which would have closed court records to the public, allowing only attorneys and court officials access to them. However, the next day, Stacey vacated that order, making the case public.
Special prosecutor Stephanie Watson is representing the Department of Revenue in Stewart’s case challenging his driver’s license revocation. A special judge, Robin E. Fulton of the Madison County Circuit Court, has been assigned to the license revocation case.
Stewart served six years as Jefferson County’s Div. 3 Circuit judge, losing his bid for re-election on Nov. 8, 2016, to Dianna Bartels of Arnold, a self-employed attorney. Before Stewart was elected to Div. 3, he was an associate circuit judge for six years and a family court commissioner for six years before that.