Gummels made essentially the same claim to Garvin and a representative of then-St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay’s office on June 22, 2016, the report says, and through a spokeswoman, to a Post-Dispatch reporter on June 23.

In a June 28 letter to Watkins, who had asked why evidence had not been turned over, Koster’s office again claimed that there was no “report,” but again failed to mention the office’s prior knowledge of the DNA evidence. Gummels was aware of the draft letter, which was sent by Joel Poole, the chief counsel of the litigation division, the report says.

Poole, in an email Friday night, said that he has not seen the unredacted report. But he said that any claims that he was aware that DNA evidence was withheld from Watkins are inaccurate, and that Goldsmith and his colleagues never contacted him during their investigation.

Poole said: “I would be disappointed to learn that the Goldsmith report claims that I was aware that DNA evidence had been withheld from the plaintiff’s counsel prior to the settlement in 2013 when I wrote the June 2016 letter, as that would be untrue. Moreover, I would have stated as much to Mr. Goldsmith or his associates had they contacted me during their investigation, which they did not do.”

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