Philly judge says Krasner wouldn’t know justice if it ‘slapped him in the face’ after DA criticizes his track record
District Attorney Larry Krasner initially said Municipal Court Judge William Austin Meehan Jr. had a “disturbing pattern” of throwing out cases against police following a Pa. Supreme Court ruling.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated charges against a Philadelphia homicide detective who prosecutors said helped his cousin stalk a woman by sending him her home address — a ruling that later led to a war of words between a sitting judge and the district attorney.
The charges against Detective Nathaniel Williams were dismissed in 2020 by Municipal Court Judge William Austin Meehan Jr., who said prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing for the case to proceed to trial. The high court, in a unanimous ruling, said Meehan erred in that determination and it rejected Common Pleas and Superior Court opinions upholding his decision on appeal.
On Wednesday, District Attorney Larry Krasner said Meehan’s now-overturned ruling was part of a “disturbing pattern” by the judge of throwing out cases against Philadelphia police officers at early stages in the criminal court process.
Meehan, in turn, rebuked Krasner’s characterization of his decisions, saying the city’s top prosecutor “wouldn’t recognize real justice if it walked up to him and slapped him in the face.”
He said he could not comment on the Williams case because it is ongoing.
Williams had been charged in 2019 with falsifying statements and tampering with evidence after prosecutors said he provided his cousin with the name and address of a woman who declined to go on a date with him. Prosecutors said the cousin later appeared at the woman’s home and left a note on her car. When she asked how he found her, he said he “has his ways,” according to the court records.
Williams’ computer records showed he had searched for the woman’s information while exchanging texts with his cousin, prosecutors said. When he was later questioned by internal affairs investigators, prosecutors said he lied and said the woman was the subject of a homicide investigation.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the charges should be reinstated, writing that the purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine whether the evidence suggests the defendant more than likely committed a crime, not to evaluate the full weight and credibility of the case.
Krasner, in a statement Wednesday, said “the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court reflects how out of line the dismissal of these charges against a police officer before trial was.”
He added: “And unfortunately it fits a disturbing pattern with this judge.”
Krasner’s comments came the same day that Meehan handed him a setback in a separate case, denying his office’s request that a prominent personal injury lawyer be admitted to a diversion program after being charged with shooting a man in Center City in 2023.
In an emailed statement Wednesday, Meehan criticized Krasner’s leadership of the District Attorney’s Office, saying his “approach to criminal justice is misguided and even hurts more people than it helps.” He faulted Krasner for closing and replacing some long-standing diversion initiatives in the courts with what he called “less onerous programs with no actual specific criteria” and little oversight.
The judge went on to say that “the sole reason” for Philadelphia’s reduction in homicides is “the excellent trauma care provided in our City Hospitals.” (While the city has seen more shooting victims survive their injuries in recent years, police have recorded a drastic reduction in the number of shootings, which in turn, has led to fewer homicides.)
Krasner’s office in the past has criticized Meehan’s handling of cases involving Philadelphia police. In 2021, Meehan dismissed all charges against former Philadelphia SWAT Officer Richard P. Nicoletti, ruling that Nicoletti did not commit a crime when he pepper-sprayed demonstrators at point-blank range on the Vine Street Expressway during 2020 racial justice protests. (A Common Pleas Court judge later reinstated the charges, and the case is awaiting trial.)
That same year, Meehan threw out the case against Officer Charles Myers, who was charged with perjury after officials said he lied at hearing about the circumstances of a 2017 gun arrest.
And in 2022, Meehan dismissed the charges against two officers charged with chasing and beating a man with special needs after they falsely accused him of tampering with cars in their far Northeast neighborhood.