PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio, The Associated Press) — Ryan Pownall, the former Philadelphia police officer whose murder case a judge dismissed earlier this month, is now suing District Attorney Larry Krasner, Assistant D.A. Tracy Tripp and the City of Philadelphia in federal court.
According to the complaint, the city’s top prosecutor deprived Pownall of due process and repeatedly violated his civil rights in the course of "malicious prosecution" attempting to convict him of murder for an on-duty shooting in 2017.
The police department fired Pownall, who was charged with the murder of David Jones.
Police said Pownall was transporting a victim to the special victims unit when he saw Jones, who is Black, riding a dirtbike on a city street. When Pownall frisked Jones, he said he felt a gun.
Police officials have said that Pownall tried to shoot Jones during the struggle, but that his gun jammed. Jones threw his gun down and fled, and Pownall fired at him, shooting him in the back and killing him.
Related
On Oct. 11, Judge Barbara McDermott dismissed all charges against the former officer because of prosecutorial missteps, namely not properly instructing the grand jury that indicted Pownall.
Pownall is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
GOP-led impeachment investigation presses on
This lawsuit comes at the same time Krasner, a Democrat, says he is building a defense against a possible impeachment by the Republican-controlled Legislature in Harrisburg, which could begin as early as next week.
Krasner told reporters in a Friday morning news conference on the state Capitol steps that he had been willing to testify before a special committee handling the matter but it would not permit him to record the closed-door proceedings.
“We all know that Nov. 8 is coming,” Krasner said, linking the effort to the upcoming Election Day. “I would say I would not be surprised even a little bit if they go out of their way to vote for impeachment before the election, because this is politics.”
Related
He said he has not been accused of corruption or any crime, and cites crime rising at higher rates elsewhere in the state.
Asked if state House GOP leaders planned to have the House take up the matter next week or before the election, Republican caucus spokesman Jason Gottesman said only that “next week will take care of itself next week.”
Gottesman, who watched Krasner's news conference, said it is “a slap in the face to the people that Larry Krasner's office should be protecting that he used time and resources from his office to come here today for a media stunt after he refused the goodwill invitation from the select committee to offer his testimony.”
Related
He said Krasner's “criminal justice philosophy” has increased death, crime, property damage, “and the destruction of law and order in Philadelphia.”
The House's five-member Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order has been charged with studying gun violence in Philadelphia and is considering whether to start impeachment proceedings against Krasner, who was overwhelmingly reelected to a second term last year.
Republicans have hammered on crime as a campaign issue in Philadelphia this year and focused criticism on Krasner. The committee was established in June to evaluate Krasner’s job performance and make “recommendations for removal from office or other appropriate discipline, including impeachment.”
A committee lawyer on Saturday asked Krasner to provide sworn testimony behind closed doors on Friday, but talks broke down over the panel’s insistence that his appearance be in secret, and came to an impasse when he said he would do it if he could record it, Krasner said.
“Their answer was ‘No, you get no record of what we asked you and what you said. We get it,’” Krasner told reporters.
Krasner said the committee’s work was part of a Republican effort to blame cities for a wider national gun violence problem that is also felt in the state’s rural, Republican majority counties.
Democrats have argued that Republicans have not moved against GOP district attorneys with recent criminal charges or convictions, and that efforts to reduce gun violence have been blocked in the legislature. Krasner said those proposals include universal background checks to buy guns and ammo, a ban on so-called ghost guns and “deep and meaningful investments in prevention.”
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives rarely uses its power to impeach public officials. The removal process requires a House majority vote, followed by trial in the Senate and a two-thirds vote. It was most recently used successfully against Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen nearly three decades ago.