Missouri

Credibility of state’s expert witnesses questioned in Missouri transgender health care trial • Missouri Independent

Published

1 year ago

October 2, 2024

Credibility of state’s expert witnesses questioned in Missouri transgender health care trial • Missouri Independent

Missouri’s defense of a state law barring minors from beginning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones will depend on whether the judge in the case puts stock in expert witnesses touting retracted studies and conspiracy theories about Jerry Sandusky.

Wright County Circuit Court Judge Craig Carter, who is presiding over a lawsuit challenging Missouri’s gender-affirming care restrictions, will have to weigh the credibility of expert witnesses alongside his judgment.

Questions of credibility came up Tuesday, when the Missouri Attorney General’s Office called as a witness John Michael Bailey, a psychology professor at Northwestern who testified about his now-retracted study entitled “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria,” which concludes that adolescents identify as transgender as a result of social contagion.

But it was his social media post about the accusers of Jerry Sandusky that appeared to concern Carter.

Sandusky, a former college football coach, was convicted of molesting young boys over a period of at least 15 years. Bailey repeatedly posted on social media that he believes Sandusky is innocent.

Judge Craig Carter, a Wright County judge serving in Cole County for Missouri’s gender-affirming care trial, listens to a nurse practitioner testify last week (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

“You believe the people testifying against Jerry Sandusky are lying?” Carter asked.

“I can see that if you are not familiar with the evidence that I am familiar with, you would be shocked,” Bailey told him.

“Mmhmm,” Carter replied.

Bailey said he had listened to a podcast and lauded the work of conservative commentator John Ziegler.

“Do you know (Ziegler)? Have you talked to anybody that was an eyewitness in that case?” Carter asked.

“I have read testimony, but I have not talked to anyone,” Bailey said.

Although the underlying case was not about Sandusky, the exchange may have chiseled away at Bailey’s credibility and showed a greater pattern of basing conclusions on secondary sources.

Bailey’s research on transgender youth has been retracted, which he chalked up to pressure from activists.

The academic journal that retracted his article cited an issue with informed consent protocol, meaning participants didn’t know their responses would be in an article. On cross-examination, the circumstances of his research became clearer.

To investigate his hypothesis of whether “rapid onset gender dysphoria” caused a rise in referrals to gender clinics, Bailey surveyed parents and guardians who interacted with the website ParentsofROGDKids.com, a website for parents who believe their child has rapid onset gender dysphoria.

He said the study’s co-author Suzanna Diaz isn’t a researcher, so she didn’t create the survey with typical informed-consent procedures. He didn’t explain that Diaz is a pseudonym.

He knew Diaz was associated with ParentsofROGDKids.com but didn’t know her real name and if she ran the website.

Diaz had created the questionnaire to “weed out troublemakers.”

When Bailey looked into detransitioners and desisters, which are people who have stopped or reversed gender-affirming care, he looked to the website Reddit and looked at groups titled “detrans” and “desist.”

Plaintiffs’ attorney Nora Huppert asked if he verified that participants had previously been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Bailey admitted that he had not.

The other defense expert on the stand Tuesday was Dr. Daniel Weiss, an endocrinologist from Utah.

For 10 years in Ohio, Weiss accepted transgender adults as patients that needed cross-sex hormones, but later decided the intervention was harmful to prescribe.

“I’m opposed to it medically,” Weiss said of adults using cross-sex hormones to transition. “I think there’s no scientific evidence to support it. But if someone wants to do it, and they’re adequately informed, they can do it.”

His testimony included a look at adverse event reporting of puberty blockers, which he does not prescribe, and the discussion of risks to gender-affirming care.

When asked to compare the risks of puberty blockers to aspirin, he couldn’t make a direct comparison.

“It’s hard to compare,” he said. “With any intervention, you want to balance risk and benefit and look at all the treatment options.”

Gillian Wilcox, an attorney with the ACLU of Missouri, asked if he has published a peer-reviewed article on gender dysphoria. He hadn’t.

“My article, if I were to write one, would be rejected by most medical journals because there is no good treatment,” Weiss said. “I call it child-harming treatment. There is no good intervention.”

He has testified in favor of state bans on gender-affirming care for minors. He told Wilcox that the Center for Christian Virtue, an advocacy group with anti-LGBTQ views, asked him to testify and he was paid to prepare his testimony.

He does not have clinical experience with minors.

In the state’s pretrial brief, Solicitor General Joshua Divine wrote that defendants will only need to prove “medical and scientific uncertainty” to show that state lawmakers are allowed to enact restrictions on gender-affirming care.

Although the state has entered the trial confident in the task ahead, credibility may limit what the judge will consider from its experts.

Other witnesses Tuesday included parents, one of which lives in Chicago, who disagreed with their children about their transition.

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Missouri

Missouri Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 winning numbers for Oct. 25, 2025

Published

5 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Press Room

The Missouri Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Oct. 25, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

02-12-22-39-67, Powerball: 15, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

Midday: 8-3-0

Midday Wild: 4

Evening: 3-4-5

Evening Wild: 7

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

Midday: 6-9-7-7

Midday Wild: 2

Evening: 4-0-8-7

Evening Wild: 7

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash4Life numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

05-06-12-19-60, Cash Ball: 03

Check Cash4Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash Pop numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

Early Bird: 03

Morning: 10

Matinee: 15

Prime Time: 13

Night Owl: 03

Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Show Me Cash numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

02-17-19-25-27

Check Show Me Cash payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from Oct. 25 drawing

03-24-46-58-61, Powerball: 07

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

All Missouri Lottery retailers can redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners have the option to submit their claim by mail or in person at one of Missouri Lottery’s regional offices, by appointment only.

To claim by mail, complete a Missouri Lottery winner claim form, sign your winning ticket, and include a copy of your government-issued photo ID along with a completed IRS Form W-9. Ensure your name, address, telephone number and signature are on the back of your ticket. Claims should be mailed to:

Ticket Redemption

Missouri Lottery

P.O. Box 7777

Jefferson City, MO 65102-7777

For in-person claims, visit the Missouri Lottery Headquarters in Jefferson City or one of the regional offices in Kansas City, Springfield or St. Louis. Be sure to call ahead to verify hours and check if an appointment is required.

For additional instructions or to download the claim form, visit the Missouri Lottery prize claim page.

When are the Missouri Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 3: 12:45 p.m. (Midday) and 8:59 p.m. (Evening) daily.
Pick 4: 12:45 p.m. (Midday) and 8:59 p.m. (Evening) daily.
Cash4Life: 8 p.m. daily.
Cash Pop: 8 a.m. (Early Bird), 11 a.m. (Late Morning), 3 p.m. (Matinee), 7 p.m. (Prime Time) and 11 p.m. (Night Owl) daily.
Show Me Cash: 8:59 p.m. daily.
Lotto: 8:59 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday.
Powerball Double Play: 9:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Missouri editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Missouri

Missouri man arrested for Fond du Lac Co. road rage incident involving FedEx driver on I-41

Published

2 days ago

October 24, 2025

Press Room

Missouri man arrested for Fond du Lac Co. road rage incident involving FedEx driver on I-41

FOND DU LAC COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – A 26-year-old man from Missouri was arrested after a FedEx driver reported an alleged road rage incident on I-41 in Fond du Lac County early Friday morning.

Around 1:15 a.m., deputies with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office say they got a 911 call from a FedEx driver reporting a road rage incident. The delivery driver stated the incident happened on I-41 near CTH N within a construction zone.

The caller stated that a vehicle driving in front of him stopped in the only open lane of traffic directly in front of him and “appeared to have a firearm.”

Authorities responded to the area and founf the suspect vehicle in Winnebago County. After a coordinated high-risk traffic stop, the 26-year-old driver from Missouri was detained and arrested for disorderly conduct.

After the man consented to a search of his vehicle, no gun was found.

No other details were provided.

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Missouri

Prosecutor will not charge Missouri residents who sign redistricting repeal petition twice

Published

3 days ago

October 23, 2025

Press Room

Prosecutor will not charge Missouri residents who sign redistricting repeal petition twice

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – The Jackson County prosecutor announced that her office will not pursue criminal charges against those who may have signed the Congressional Redistricting petition twice.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins stated Oct. 15 that he had approved the sponsor of a petition for repealing the recently passed redistricting map to begin collecting signatures.

To qualify for the November 2026 general election ballot, proponents must collect signatures from at least 5% of registered voters in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts by the statutory deadline.

Hoskins said any signatures gathered before his approval will not count.

Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said that Hoskins’ statement has left many Jackson County residents uncertain about whether their signatures would count and whether their voices would be heard.

“State officials announced that signatures collected before Oct. 15 for the redistricting petition would not be counted. They also indicated that circulating the petition early is not a crime,” Johnson said. “If any Jackson County residents had already signed the redistricting petition before Oct. 15 and then learned their signatures may not be counted, they may have signed again to ensure their voices would be heard, unaware that signing a petition twice is technically a misdemeanor criminal offense under Missouri law. ”

Johnson said she will not pursue charges against people who may be caught in that predicament.

“People may have signed again after October 15 because of mixed messaging, not because they were trying to break the law,” she said. “They simply want to ensure their voices were being heard on an issue that directly affects their representation in Congress.”

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe had convened Missouri’s General Assembly for a special session to enact an updated congressional map, which included a significant change to the Fifth District in Kansas City.

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