Indictment Against Missouri Governor Will Go Forward

ST. LOUIS, MO — A judge in St. Louis has rejected several motions by defense attorneys for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, ruling that the indictment against him for felony invasion of privacy will go forward and a jury will decide the case.

Last week, the governor's lawyers filed two motions to dismiss the case, accusing prosecutors of misleading the grand jury — an accusation the prosecution called "patently without merit." The judge seems to have agreed.

Greitens also requested a bench trail before a judge instead of a jury, citing the case's high publicity and "significant legal and evidentiary questions" that will require objective analysis, and asked that the trial's date be set for the first week of April.

The trial will remain set for May 14, giving prosecutors more time to finish their investigation. Earlier this month, they told a judge they do not have the compromising photo the Republican governor allegedly took of a woman without her permission in 2015.

The prosecution's case seems to have been rushed to beat Missouri's statute of limitations for invasion of privacy. They had originally requested a November trial date, giving them six more months to conclude their investigation into the governor and obtain the photo in question.

The governor admitted having an affair with his hair dresser, calling it a "deeply personal mistake" in a joint statement with his wife in January. But he denied trying to blackmail his mistress, instead blaming the case against him on a "reckless liberal prosecutor."

Greitens has not said whether he took a compromising photo of his mistress. His lawyers have variously said that any photo he took was consensual and that the photo may not exist at all.

Dozens of lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, have called on the governor to resign, and the Missouri House announced the formation of an investigatory committee in February, the first step in a process that could lead to impeachment.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

Photo: Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and his wife Sheena in 2011. ( Larry Busacca/Getty Images for GQ)