[PA] Really? Almost 3 MONTHS to file charges on Detective Palmer for aggravated assault of his ex, Judge Fleisher? Word.

...an officer took [Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Leslie] Fleisher to Jefferson University Hospital to be treated for the cut on her head, redness around her neck, and scrapes to her knees, back, and left elbow... Investigators that night took photographs of a large bloodstain on a wall where Fleisher said [Philadelphia District Attorney's Office Detective Lewis] Palmer had banged her head. Additional blood was found on the trim and hinge of a door... For two years, Palmer and Fleisher had a stormy relationship... Police were called to Fleisher's house in March 2008 for a domestic disturbance, and in October, police returned again on a report of a domestic assault. No charges were filed at the time of either incident... 

Philadelphia, I am writing to you from Tacoma Washington where my city looked the other way AND dawdled on both the certain and the alleged crimes of our police chief David Brame 

until both he

and his wife Crystal (Judson, doting, loving mother of two) 

were dead.

This one incident alone between your judge and detective just as easily could have been a murder case - 

as Leslie's head was bounced bleeding around her house, 

as she fell fleeing, 

as she was being kicked after she fell fleeing, 

or from the choking.

You took still-a-detective Palmer's guns away and let him be at work daily.  Thinking out loud - was he frisked when he came to work? Were other officers in danger if his even-suspected violent nature might include suicide or taking others out with him? What were your assurances that a man who would commit such a violent hands-on criminal assault could be trusted daily around a whole department of people with guns on their waists? Was he preVENTed from coming into contact with weapons at all times every day - or was he trusted not to? Detective Palmer admitted to illegal wiretapping so (pray tell) why was he assigned "to the office, where he covered the phones and things of that nature"???

You lucked out Philadelphia. If you have no heart and loss of life doesn't bother you - know that Tacoma was dragged nationally through the mud as it was slammed with a solid $75M wrongful death lawsuit - that begged the question in national scandal news: "Who knew What When?" Exactly who knew of this 2 year "stormy" relationship?

Contemplating favored handling in order to preserve careers too often ends in death. What is the standard procedure for handling an evident aggravated assault and admitted (federal?) wiretapping perpetrator? What was there to decide that took three months? Domestic violence is a CRIME.

What is in the Philadelphia city and police department domestic violence policies concerning personnel? Do they have them? Did they adhere to them?

How many public official-related and officer-involved domestic violence cases are being allowed to
RUN THEIR COURSE
with the full knowing of the police and city officials of Philadelphia?

Our police chief - before he shot Crystal and himself in the head with their children running to their bleeding bodies in a public parking lot - bragged he had our main newspaper in his hip pocket. Just a question - did the Inquirer know? Will they pursue the questions?

DETECTIVE FOR D.A.'S OFFICE CHARGED WITH ASSAULT
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Sam Wood
Jan. 6, 2010
[Excerpts] A detective for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office was charged yesterday with aggravated assault in the alleged October beating of his former girlfriend, a Common Pleas Court judge, the state Attorney General's Office said. Detective Lewis B. Palmer III - who is also accused of illegally wiretapping the judge's home telephone - surrendered himself yesterday at Northeast Detectives, where he was fingerprinted and photographed, and given a preliminary arraignment. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14. A spokeswoman for District Attorney Seth Williams said Palmer had been given 30 days' notice with intent to dismiss. The charges, filed by the state Attorney General's Office, stem from an alleged case of domestic abuse at the Old City home of Judge Leslie Fleisher. For two years, Palmer and Fleisher had a stormy relationship, according to people familiar with the investigation. Police were called to Fleisher's house in March 2008 for a domestic disturbance, and in October, police returned again on a report of a domestic assault. No charges were filed at the time of either incident. The District Attorney's Office put Palmer on restricted duty in late October as a result of the attorney general's investigation, said Tasha Jamerson, spokeswoman for Williams. Palmer was also charged yesterday with simple assault, reckless endangerment of another person, and interception of electronic communications... Palmer, 47, began his law enforcement career with Philadelphia police in 1993. A year later, he was promoted to detective and served in the narcotics unit. In 2007, he transferred to the D.A.'s Office to work in the dangerous-drug-offenders unit... [Full article here]

AFFIDAVIT DETAILS ALLEGED BEATING OF JUDGE BY BOYFRIEND
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Sam Wood
January 7, 2010
[Excerpts] In the fall, Philadelphia police found a Common Pleas Court judge bleeding and bruised at her Old City townhouse. Leslie Fleisher - then mired in controversy over her courtroom management - told police that her boyfriend had choked her and pushed her against a wall in the home with enough force to cut her scalp during the Oct. 17 incident, according to court documents released yesterday by the state Attorney General's Office. As she fled her home on Third Street, her boyfriend - Lewis B. Palmer, a detective with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office - chased her, Fleisher told police. Outside, he pushed her against a brick wall and kicked her after she fell to the ground, according to an affidavit of probable cause... Said [his attorney, A. Charles] Peruto, "I've looked at the charges, interviewed my client, and I am completely confident that this will be an acquittal"... Samuel C. Stretton, Fleisher's attorney, said the judge had returned to work this week at the Criminal Justice Center after recovering from a six-week bout with pneumonia... Stretton, who will not be representing Fleisher in the assault case, said the judge would not comment on the alleged beating. After the assault, according to the affidavit, an officer took Fleisher to Jefferson University Hospital to be treated for the cut on her head, redness around her neck, and scrapes to her knees, back, and left elbow. She left the hospital before seeing a doctor... Investigators that night took photographs of a large bloodstain on a wall where Fleisher said Palmer had banged her head. Additional blood was found on the trim and hinge of a door, according to the affidavit... In an interview with investigators from the Attorney General's Office, Palmer conceded that he had been at Fleisher's residence the day of the assault and had had a physical altercation with her, according to the affidavit. The affidavit said Palmer recorded conversations with Fleisher without her permission... Palmer told investigators that he had made the recordings, the affidavit said. As a result, the Attorney General's Office also charged Palmer with interception of electronic communications, or wiretapping... The Attorney General's Office, as the prosecuting agency, is representing Fleisher in the assault case. Soon after the October incident, Palmer was placed on restricted duty. He was ordered to turn over his gun and told he could not participate in any police actions, Jamerson said. "He was restricted to the office, where he covered the phones and things of that nature," Jamerson said... After he was charged Tuesday, Palmer surrendered to police at Northeast Detectives. He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing next Thursday at the Criminal Justice Center and released on recognizance. Palmer was suspended without pay Tuesday and given 30 days' notice with intent to dismiss... [Full article here]
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