ADA Handling Rittenhouse Square Stabbing Case Is Resigning to Join Beasley Firm
Assistant District Attorney Louis Tumolo, who has been at the prosecutor's office since 2012, is resigning to join The Beasley Firm, a prominent Philadelphia personal injury law firm.
August 23, 2018 at 05:47 PM
5 minute read
An assistant Philadelphia district attorney who handled some of the city's most recent high-profile cases, including one involving a stabbing in the Rittenhouse neighborhood and another involving a police officer who was fatally shot, is leaving the office.
Assistant District Attorney Louis Tumolo, who has been at the prosecutor's office since 2012, is resigning to join The Beasley Firm, a prominent Philadelphia personal injury law firm.
Tumolo's departure comes as the homicide unit, and the office in general, has undergone significant staffing changes since District Attorney Larry Krasner took over the office in January. Along with significant changes made at the beginning of the year, an assistant supervisor for the office left in June, and The Legal has learned that another assistant supervisor for the unit, long-time prosecutor Ed Cameron, is also set to transfer to the insurance fraud unit.
Several sources with ties to the prosecutor's office said Tumolo's departure came after he had disagreements with his supervisors about how the office handled some of the high-profile cases he had been assigned to.
Tumolo, however, refuted those claims, adding, “That had absolutely no part in my decision to leave the office.”
“I got a great offer from a reputable firm that I couldn't pass up,” Tumolo said. “There are a lot of big cases I'm leaving behind that I'm upset about. But I'm leaving them to colleagues that I'm sure are more than capable of seeing that justice is served.”
Beasley firm leader Jim Beasley Jr. said he was “thrilled” to have Tumolo join the firm.
“We're going to give him a little bit of libel, malpractice, aviation and whatever else comes across his desk,” Beasley said. “He's hungry. He's a good solid guy, and he will fit in well.”
Benjamin Waxman, a spokesman for the DA's office, said in an emailed statement that Tumolo ”is well-respected by DA Krasner, his immediate supervisor, and the rest of us in the office.”
“I've had the opportunity to work with him personally and he's a very talented attorney. We're sorry to lose him but wish him well on this new opportunity,” Waxman said in the statement.
Regarding Cameron's move, Waxman said Cameron had requested to be transferred to the insurance fraud unit months ago, but he had been asked to stay in the homicide unit to help train new ADAs.
“It's the intention of the DA to honor his request for transfer,” Waxman said.
Cameron has been in the office more than 30 years, where he handled several prominent cases, including the prosecution of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell.
Tumolo has been with the office for six years, and spent the last two-and-a-half years in homicide, where he was also assigned to several high-profile cases—sometimes alongside Cameron.
According to court dockets, Tumolo and Cameron had been assigned to the cases Commonwealth v. Williams and Commonwealth v. Hipps, involving the fatal shooting of Philadelphia Police Sgt. Robert Wilson, and Tumolo was assigned to handle Commonwealth v. White. White involves the fatal stabbing of 37-year-old Sean Schellenger by 21-year-old Michael White. The office received significant media attention on both cases, with critics saying Krasner's office was being lenient with its charges and plea deals.
The most recent controversy involved the White case. According to media reports, White had been delivering food as a bicycle messenger near the intersection of 17th and Chancellor streets when he fatally stabbed Schellenger, a real estate developer. White contended he was acting in self defense, but police alleged that White had stabbed Schellenger in the back. Adding to the controversy is the fact that Schellenger is white and White is black.
During a preliminary hearing earlier this month, the office announced it would not pursue a first-degree murder charge and would instead pursue third-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Krasner said the decision came after the office reviewed cellphone video of the incident, which he said showed there was no evidence that White intended to kill Schellenger, which is a requirement for a first-degree murder conviction. White's supporters lauded the decision, however, others criticized the office for the move, saying the decision was evidence of a double-standard.
Schellenger's mother also issued a statement saying Krasner “overruled his own prosecutors” in the case, and several sources told The Legal a proffer that was held regarding what charges should have been brought had been conducted by supervisors without Tumolo's input. Sources pointed to that meeting as a source of tension.
Tumolo said he did not conduct the proffer, but he denied any claims that he was barred from providing input.
“Maybe some things are being twisted a little bit,” Tumolo said.
In Williams and Hipps, the office also received significant criticism because Krasner sought a life without parole plea deal, rather than seeking the death penalty. During a tense hearing, in which both Carlton Hipps and Ramone Williams entered deals for life without parole plea, plus 50 to 100 additional years, the victim's family members said they felt “cheated” by the office and that the case was being used for “political gain.”
Krasner, who campaigned on a platform of criminal justice reform and said during his campaign that he would not seek the death penalty, appeared briefly during that hearing and said the deal was similar to deals reached under other administrations and that it would “minimize the re-traumatization” of Wilson's two young children.
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