The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ordered Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner to apologize to the family of murder victims for misrepresenting communications with them and for failing to comply with instructions to investigate a habeas claim, affirming a district court’s sanctions against the office.
The Third Circuit affirmed U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s order for Krasner to apologize to the victims’ family and be more forthcoming in the future. The court concluded the District Attorney’s Office falsely claimed it had “carefully reviewed” evidence pertaining to Robert Wharton, who was handed down a death-penalty sentence for allegedly killing a West Philadelphia couple, Bradley and Ferne Hart, in 1984. Their 7-month-old baby was left in the cold, but she survived.