Testimony Wraps in Federal Hearing Over Philly DA’s Handling of 2009 Murder Appeal

Testimony wrapped Tuesday in a federal court hearing over how lawyers for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office handled, or mishandled, an appeal in a 2009 murder case, KYW Newsradio reported.

The appeal involves Dennis Johnson, who was convicted in 2009 of killing Kenyatta Smith at a Strawberry Mansion convenience store.

Attorneys David Napiorski and Peter Andrews testified that when they realized errors were made in a 2022 court filing that sided with the defendant, they tried to get District Attorney Larry Krasner to send the case to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, according to KYW. They said that matched what colleagues testified last week.

The lawyers said Krasner repeatedly refused, called the attorney general’s office evil, and told them to malign Jaclyn Mason, the lawyer who filed the concession, in an effort to “protect the office.” Napiorski said Krasner also threatened their jobs if they did not comply.

In testimony last week, Krasner was accused of calling the attorney general’s office “Paraguay” and the attorneys who work there “Nazis,” KYW reported.

Johnson’s father, Roy Clark, said the hearing has been a distraction from his son’s case. “To me with the DA’s office in-house fighting, I don’t know what’s the remedy for that,” he said. “I have been sitting in there and waiting for the meat and potatoes of the issue, because that is my son, and right now, they are going on with things about who messed up the brief and who did what with the filing.”

U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond will decide whether there was misconduct in the handling of the appeal and whether the District Attorney’s Office should still have a role in the case.

KYW reported that Krasner has been under fire from federal judges and the state Supreme Court over his office’s handling of overturning convictions. A prior supervisor in the office was disbarred by the federal court for similar conduct, and another was suspended.

Source: KYW Newsradio.