A federal judge asked federal prosecutors Tuesday to investigate Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, saying he may have obstructed justice and potentially committed other crimes in his handling of a post-conviction case.
\n\nThe memorandum by U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond Jr. represents an extraordinary turn of events in the controversy around Krasner’s Conviction Integrity Unit. It was issued as part of a case involving a man seeking to overturn his second-degree murder conviction.
\n\nKrasner’s office has backed the effort to exonerate the man, Dennis Johnson. But prosecutors assigned to the case have said that it was poorly handled and that Krasner ordered them to “protect the office” after the court began to examine their actions.
\n\nDiamond ruled that Krasner and his deputy, Matthew Stiegler, could no longer participate in the case. He said there is evidence that they may have sought to obstruct justice, as well as worked to persuade four prosecutors in their office to “urge the court to accept a false narrative,” which would “amount to criminal conspiracy.”
\n\n“I have thus reluctantly concluded that Philadelphia’s highest law enforcement official and one of his top assistants may have violated the law,” Diamond said in the memo. “In these…
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