District Attorney Larry Krasner said he had a long talk with the police commissioner about his decision not to pursue the death penalty in the case of two men charged with the 2015 killing of a sergeant in North Philadelphia.
Mr. Richard Ross – who wasn’t the city’s top cop when brothers Carlton Hipps and Ramone Williams shot and killed Sgt. Robert Wilson III while attempting to rob a video game store – hoped the duo, whom a judge called despicable, would be put to death. Instead, the pair today pleaded guilty to their crimes and will spend the rest of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole.
In court, the 28-year-old Mr. Williams accepted responsibility for his actions while his brother “remained inscrutable,” according to reporting from NBC10 Philadelphia.
Mr. Krasner – whose nearing seven months into his job as the city’s top law enforcement officer – as a candidate pledged that he wouldn’t seek the death penalty. However, his decision in this case appeared to be more informed by the wishes of Sgt. Wilson’s immediate family rather than a campaign promise.
According to Mr. Krasner, who said earlier this year he visited with some of the family for over two hours, the mothers of Sgt. Wilson’s children didn’t want Mr. Hipps and Mr. Williams put to death. The grandmother, the Sergeant’s sister and others in the family felt the opposite.
“The DA failed a hero,” NBC10 Philadelphia quoted Mr. Wilson’s cousin as saying.
Following this morning court proceedings where Mr. Krasner for the first time as DA addressed a judge and spoke on the record, the freshman Democrat held a press conference. It was a bit tense at times and Mr. Krasner repeatedly defended himself against accusations that the family wasn’t consulted on this matter nor apprised of the plea deal until Friday afternoon.
“We met with the grandmother and the sister for two hours in February… I sat right next to the grandmother … We knew fully the input of this family,” Mr. Krasner, who characterized his hours-long visit as unprecedented in comparison to previous administrations, said.
Mr. Krasner went on to say:
“We had more contact with the grandmother and with the sister than is almost ever done in the history of this office… we had their input. We respect their feelings. But we disagreed.”
The split between the family on this issue has resulted in the harassment, intimidation and verbal abuse of the mothers of the late Sergeant’s children, revealed Mr. Krasner, who left court this morning prior to witness testimony in order to focus on this matter. He said a call was placed to Mr. Ross to further investigate the possible harassment.
“If things get bad enough, I may have to take legal action,” said the district attorney.
The pressure, which included improper use of the courts and verbal abuse, appeared to have been aimed at changing the minds of the mothers of Sgt. Wilson’s kids. Mr. Krasner said the women, who he promised would remain anonymous, by law are giving priority as it relates to their wishes.
“The law in Pennsylvania recognizes that when there’s a death, and there’s no will left, the first people you look to help are the children. And the second people you look to help are the spouses. You only start talking about grandparents and brothers and sisters when those people don’t exist.”
Mr. Krasner reiterated that the mothers and their children didn’t want the Office of the District Attorney to pursue the death penalty.
“A very big part of this decision was to make it so the chance of these children seeing the video was reduced, which is what their mothers wanted; was to make it so the re-traumatizing effect of a lengthy and highly public trial was reduced; and perhaps, most importantly, was to make is so that for the next 25-30-35 years, as there’s hearing after hearing after hearing, which is what happens when you have a death penalty verdict, those children were not reminded of this event and made to go to court.”
The result here is entirely consistent with what has been done in Philadelphia for the last 20-100 years, said Mr. Krasner, who noted that in the last two decades, only one person charged with killing a police officer ended up on death row.
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