Detective for D.A.'s office charged with assault

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's attorney, Charles Peruto Jr., declined to comment. Palmer did not return messages left at his home.

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.

Fleisher's lawyer, Samuel C. Stretton, also declined to make a statement and referred all questions to the Attorney General's Office.

On the bench since 2001, Fleisher, 47, has primarily handled motion hearings, nonhomicide criminal cases, and violations of probations and parole.

She recently has considered retiring, according to court system sources, after a tumultuous two years on the bench, during which lawyers have complained about absences and irregular working hours, a growing backlog of cases, and behavior that has led to several courtroom confrontations with lawyers.

Fleisher's courtroom was reassigned Monday to Judge Willis W. Berry Jr., who has returned from a four-month suspension without pay for running a real estate business from his chambers.