A federal judge has disqualified Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and a top deputy from a pending murder case, accusing both of possible criminal conduct and referring them to federal prosecutors for investigation.
U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond issued a 40-page memorandum and a separate disqualification order removing Krasner and Matthew Stiegler, chief of the DA's Conviction Integrity Unit, from a post-conviction case involving convicted murderer Dennis Johnson. Diamond concluded that the two may have pressured staff attorneys to lie in court, and then tried to cover it up by scapegoating a former line prosecutor, the Daily Caller reported.
The referral lands the case squarely on the desk of the U.S. Attorney's Office, which now must decide whether to open a formal investigation into a sitting elected prosecutor. Diamond's memo details potential perjury and obstruction of justice, charges that, if pursued, would mark an extraordinary federal action against a major-city district attorney.
Dennis Johnson was convicted in 2009 of second-degree murder, robbery, and a firearms offense. He later filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a legal challenge asking a federal court to throw out the conviction on constitutional grounds.
In 2022, the Philadelphia DA's office filed a response agreeing that Johnson's conviction should be overturned. The office claimed that the identification given by a key witness was merely hearsay. But trial transcripts told a different story: the witness had repeatedly testified to visually identifying Johnson and had known him for five to six years.
Diamond's memorandum describes a chain of events in which Stiegler determined the office would concede habeas relief before ever investigating the trial record, and then assigned the case to former Assistant District Attorney Jaclyn Mason. When the flawed concession came to light during a 2026 review of case files, the judge found, Krasner and Stiegler shifted blame onto Mason rather than correcting the record.
Diamond wrote that Stiegler tried to cast Mason as a "rogue actor" who had botched the case on her own. Other supervisors inside the DA's office, however, testified on Mason's behalf, contradicting that account.
The judge's language left little room for ambiguity. Diamond described Stiegler's testimony during court hearings as "contradictory, evasive, or outright dishonest," riddled with "material omissions and falsehoods" about how the office handled the flawed habeas concession.
Diamond wrote in his memorandum:
"He thus sought to direct the very lawyers obligated by law to correct the Concession's errors to do just the opposite."
The judge concluded that Krasner may have pressured staff to go along with the effort to shield office leadership. AP News reported that Diamond found Krasner had threatened "consequences" for staffers who refused to follow his orders.
In a second key passage from the memo, Diamond stated:
"Mr. Krasner, aided by Stiegler, put the Law Division supervisors in an impossible situation that might jeopardize them professionally and may have violated the law."
The pattern Diamond described amounts to an allegation that Philadelphia's top prosecutor tried to get his own attorneys to mislead a federal court, and when the scheme began to unravel, attempted to pin the blame on a subordinate who had simply followed orders from above. That is not a policy disagreement. It is an accusation of institutional dishonesty at the highest level of a major city's law enforcement apparatus.
Diamond referred Krasner, Stiegler, and the DA's office itself to the U.S. Attorney's Office for investigation. The memo identifies potential criminal conduct including perjury and obstruction of justice. Just The News reported that Diamond also cited evidence of possible criminal conspiracy.
Notably, the judge disqualified only Krasner and Stiegler as individuals, not the DA's office as an institution. The office may still participate in the case, but its two most senior figures connected to the matter are now barred from involvement. Who will step in to handle the prosecution side of Johnson's habeas petition remains an open question.
Krasner did not respond to the Daily Caller's request for comment. AP News, however, quoted the DA as saying, "I respectfully and vigorously disagree with the decision." No further public statement from Stiegler appeared in any available reporting.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has not publicly confirmed whether it will act on Diamond's referral. A federal judge's referral carries significant weight, but it does not compel prosecution. The decision now rests with federal prosecutors, operating under a Justice Department that has shown willingness to hold local officials accountable.
Krasner has long been a lightning rod. He accepted $1.9 million in campaign funds from political donor George Soros, making him one of the most prominent beneficiaries of Soros-funded prosecutorial campaigns nationwide. National Review noted that the case provides a concrete example of a judge removing a prominent liberal prosecutor over allegations of serious legal misconduct.
Philadelphia saw homicides reach an all-time high of more than 550 in 2021 under Krasner's watch, according to the Daily Caller. He has faced sustained criticism from Pennsylvania Republicans and the Trump administration over what they describe as soft-on-crime policies. The Washington Examiner reported that Krasner has drawn particular ire from President Trump and state-level GOP leaders.
The Daily Caller News Foundation also exclusively reported in April that Krasner's team had hidden criminal records of migrants receiving free legal aid, a separate controversy that raised its own questions about transparency inside the office. Krasner was also previously reported to have said the White House's ballroom should be blown up, a remark that drew widespread condemnation.
The Krasner saga fits a broader pattern. In Arlington, Virginia, a prosecutor backed by Soros-affiliated PACs let six felonies slide before a suspect went on to face a murder charge in Washington, D.C., another case where prosecutorial leniency preceded violent consequences.
Diamond's memorandum, though, goes beyond policy criticism. The judge is not arguing that Krasner is too lenient. He is alleging that Krasner and his deputy may have committed crimes in the course of trying to free a convicted murderer, and then lied about it to a federal court.
The case also arrives amid heightened national attention on judicial actions against elected officials who appear to place ideology above their sworn obligations. Courts across the country have grown less patient with prosecutors who treat convictions as obstacles rather than outcomes of due process.
For Dennis Johnson's case specifically, the road ahead is unclear. His habeas petition remains pending. The DA's office can still participate, but the two officials most deeply involved in the alleged misconduct are now sidelined. Whether the office changes course, or doubles down, will say a great deal about institutional accountability in Philadelphia.
Separately, questions about how lenient policies intersect with public safety continue to surface in jurisdictions across the country, reinforcing the stakes when prosecutors prioritize progressive goals over the straightforward administration of justice.
Diamond's memo is not a slap on the wrist. Forty pages of detailed findings, alleging perjury, obstruction, scapegoating, and institutional dishonesty, represent one of the most severe judicial rebukes of a sitting district attorney in recent memory. The judge did not hold back. He laid out a factual record, named names, and sent the file to federal prosecutors.
Four supervisors inside Krasner's own office testified against the narrative their boss was pushing. That detail alone speaks volumes. When a DA's own staff contradicts him under oath, the problem is not a rogue subordinate. It is leadership.
Krasner has built a career on the premise that the criminal justice system is too harsh. Diamond's findings suggest that in at least one case, Krasner's office was willing to cut corners, mislead a court, and sacrifice a junior attorney's reputation to avoid accountability for its own failures.
Voters in Philadelphia elected Krasner to reform the system. A federal judge now says he may have corrupted it instead.