153 ex-prosecutors slammed DA Larry Krasner in a letter. The Innocence Project took aim at his challenger, Carlos Vega.

With the Democratic primary for district attorney in Philadelphia four weeks away, critics of both candidates are stepping up attacks.

More than 150 former assistant district attorneys signed a letter this week calling for the ouster of District Attorney Larry Krasner and asking voters to back his challenger, former homicide prosecutor Carlos Vega.

And the Innocence Project denounced Vega for his campaign statements about his role in the 2016 retrial of a man in a 1991 rape and murder after DNA evidence showed he did not commit those crimes.

The anti-Krasner letter from 153 former prosecutors, some with experience in the District Attorney’s Office dating to the 1970s, said they are “not defined by any political ideology but by a desire to see a better, fairer, safer city, and we hope you agree that it is time for a change.”

“As former prosecutors all we are asking is that you look at the records of the two men running and make an evidence-based decision,” they wrote. “Homicides, violent crime, and illegal gun possessions in the city of Philadelphia have rapidly increased under the current administration.”

The letter, shared with The Inquirer, asks voters to donate to Vega’s campaign and support him in the May 18 primary, echoing his campaign message of increasing safety in the city while continuing to pursue the criminal justice reform efforts launched by Krasner since he took office in 2018.

The race enters its final month amid a historic spike in homicides and gun violence in the city. An Inquirer analysis last month found that although arrests for illegal gun possession have nearly tripled during Krasner’s time in office, conviction rates have fallen from 63% to 49%. Krasner has blamed the drop in convictions in part to police submitting weaker evidence or more cases being tossed out by judges because witnesses didn’t show up in court.

Thirty-six of the prosecutors who signed the letter left the District Attorney’s Office while Krasner was in charge. Some were fired by Krasner in his first week in office.

Vega, who did not sign the letter, was among those fired that week. He is now suing, saying he was a victim of age discrimination. That litigation remains unresolved.

Krasner’s campaign shrugged off the letter as proof his administration is on the right track.

“What a surprise that a group of Old Guard ex-ADAs don’t like what Larry Krasner has been doing to bring reform, accountability, and transparency to the District Attorney’s Office,” campaign manager Brandon Evans said. “That means we’re doing something right.”

Evans accused the former prosecutors of spending “decades perpetuating mass incarceration in our city.”

“Mr. Vega can have their support,” he added.

This is not the first time former prosecutors have issued a warning about Krasner. A similar letter was circulated during the 2017 campaign, suggesting he was unfit to serve as district attorney because he was a career defense and civil rights attorney who had never worked as a prosecutor.

Krasner continues to campaign as a reformer, emphasizing efforts to review past convictions, which has led to the exoneration of 19 people. He has accused Vega repeatedly of downplaying his role in the 2016 retrial of Anthony Wright, who had been convicted of rape and murder in 1991.

With DNA evidence pointing to a different man in 2016, a jury found Wright not guilty. Jurors later expressed anger that Wright was forced to face another trial.

The Innocence Project, a nonprofit law firm that seeks to overturn wrongful convictions, said it is not supporting any candidate in the race, but accused Vega in a statement last week of making “factual misstatements” during the campaign about his involvement in Wright’s retrial.

Vega has repeatedly said he was brought in “at the eleventh hour” to help question a few witnesses.

“These statements are false,” the Innocence Project said. “Mr. Vega was co-counsel for the Commonwealth throughout Mr. Wright’s 2016 trial, which spanned nearly three full weeks. In that capacity, he questioned fifteen different trial witnesses.”

Vega was later deposed in a civil lawsuit that ended with the city paying Wright almost $10 million, the Innocence Project noted.

In that deposition, Vega said he believed Wright was guilty, disagreed with the jury’s verdict, and had never worked on a case in his 35 years as a prosecutor that involved police misconduct, including coerced confessions or fabricated evidence, two key claims in the Innocence Project’s effort to free Wright.

Vega called the Innocence Project statement “a smear campaign” designed to distract from Krasner’s record in office. He told The Inquirer he now respects the jury’s verdict.

The issue came up again Monday night when Krasner and Vega appeared separately in a virtual town-hall meeting.

Krasner said voters “should be wary” of a candidate who retried a man after DNA evidence showed he didn’t commit the crime.

“That’s what Carlos Vega did,” Krasner said. “He’s going to give you 200 reasons why he didn’t really do it. Yes he did.”

Vega, in response, continued to distance himself from the case and noted he was not named as a defendant in Wright’s lawsuit and never faced any disciplinary actions for his participation.