Four years later, a former Philly police detective faces assault and threat charges ... again
Judge James Murray Lynn found Detective Robert Redanauer “not guilty” of all charges in 2021. But there was no trial. “It’s very odd,” one law professor said.
A former Philadelphia police detective is again facing assault and threat charges stemming from a bizarre off-duty incident — nearly four years after a sympathetic city judge found him not guilty of those charges in a ruling that puzzled legal experts.
The 2021 acquittal of ex-Detective Robert Redanauer — who allegedly pointed a gun at a 23-year-old man while stumbling naked around the man’s mother’s bedroom in Northeast Philly — had raised questions about whether police officers receive preferential treatment from local judges.
Last year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that then-Judge James Murray Lynn had mishandled the Redanauer case in 2021 and ordered it sent back to Philadelphia courts for prosecution.
Redanauer, 55, was re-arraigned last month on charges of simple assault, making terroristic threats, reckless endangerment, and possession of an instrument of crime. A scheduling conference is set for May 19.
According to the original police internal affairs affidavit, Redanauer threatened a woman’s 16-year-old son in December 2020 and pointed a gun at her 23-year old son’s face and said: “Come here, f—. I am going to shoot you.”
The Inquirer subsequently reported that Redanauer had a history of erratic behavior going back to his early days as a detective, including allegations that he accidentally shot a fellow officer in the leg while trying to shoot an unarmed suspect; made wrongful arrests; attacked a firefighter; and threw a domestic abuse victim into a vending machine.
» READ MORE: ‘Please, don’t shoot me’: Complaints and lawsuits piled up for years before a Philly detective was arrested
Then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw fired Redanauer after his April 2021 arrest, calling his behavior “intolerable.”
But when Redanauer went before Lynn for his preliminary hearing that July, the judge snapped at the prosecutor, telling her, “Don’t waste my time,” and questioning her ability, asking: “Have you been doing this long?”
At the end of the preliminary hearing, Lynn retroactively ruled that the hearing was actually Redanauer’s Common Pleas Court trial. He did so based on a procedural technicality raised by Redanauer’s attorney.
“The defendant is not guilty,” Lynn said, clearing Redanauer of all charges involving both of the woman’s sons and rejecting the older son’s uncontested testimony.
Brooke Girley, an assistant law professor at Widener University Delaware Law School, said this week she had never heard of a judge changing a preliminary hearing to a trial after the hearing concluded.
The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine if there is enough evidence to hold a defendant for trial in Common Pleas Court. The two proceedings have different burdens of proof and rules of evidence.
“It’s very odd,” said Girley, who reviewed the transcript at The Inquirer’s request. “I was like, ‘What is happening?’”
In addition, Girley said, the adult son’s testimony against Redanauer appeared to have been sufficient evidence to hold him for trial, especially because it was not disputed by any defense witnesses. She said Lynn seemed “hostile” to the district attorney’s office.
“I wondered to what extent the person being a [police] officer factored into the disposition of this case,” Girley said.
George Thomas, a professor at Rutgers Law School, said he was not surprised the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sent the Redanauer case back to the city for prosecution.
“I don’t think a preliminary [hearing] judge can do that,” Thomas said of Lynn’s declaring that Redanauer is not guilty of all charges without a trial. “I’ve never seen that before.”
Other legal experts have described the decision as “stunning” and “very weird.”
Lynn could not be reached for comment. Redanauer’s attorney declined to comment.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday: “This Philly district attorney’s office believes in equality, and that means we believe in evenhanded justice for people who break the law, and evenhanded protection for people who are victimized.”
Lynn was first elected to Common Pleas Court in 1991. The Philadelphia Bar Association rated him “not recommended” when he ran for retention in 2001 and 2011. He did not run in 2021, deciding to retire instead.
In 2012, the Daily News reported that unwritten opinions had been piling up on Lynn’s desk, delaying cases for up to 18 months. He once entered the courtroom in the late morning, required people to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, then left without conducting any court business, according to a column by former Daily News columnist Jill Porter.
Campaign finance records show that Lynn in December 2024 contributed $500 to Krasner’s opponent, former Judge Patrick Dugan, in this month’s district attorney primary.