PA Supreme Court Orders AG Oversight of Philly DA Appeals

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered that the state attorney general’s office must review any future case in which the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office seeks to overturn a criminal conviction, issuing a sharply critical ruling that found prosecutors repeatedly misled courts and violated their duty of candor. The decision, handed down on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, also reversed a lower court’s order granting a new trial to convicted murderer Lavar Brown.

The court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Kevin Dougherty, stated that the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, led by Larry Krasner, has demonstrated a “troubling and recurrent” pattern of misconduct when seeking to vacate convictions. The justices cited “numerous instances of untrustworthy concessions, lack of candor, misrepresentations of fact, lack of adequate investigation, and avoidance of hearings.” The ruling mandates that before a judge rules on any such concession by Philadelphia prosecutors under the Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA), the court must notify the Office of the Attorney General and allow it to intervene.

The case centers on Lavar Brown, who was convicted of the 2004 murder of Michael...