DAs Are Sanctioned After Improperly Conceding Death Penalty Case

Philadelphia district attorneys, who attempted to concede a death penalty case, were properly sanctioned by the district court for their lack of candor about the decision-making process, the Third Circuit said.

The attorneys’ due process rights weren’t violated and the mild sanctions were justified and reasonable, the opinion by Judge Stephanos Bibas said March 8.

Robert Wharton was convicted of killing Bradley and Ferne Hart and leaving their seven-month-old daughter to freeze—she survived. He was sentenced to death.

Wharton exhibited good and bad behavior in prison. While he was in court on an unrelated robbery case, he also tried to ...