Philly public defender charged: Selling witness details in murder case

Hassan Bennett, 43, was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of bribery and witness intimidation in connection with an attempted murder case in Philadelphia. The District Attorney’s Office said Bennett, who also serves as chair of the Philadelphia Citizens Police Oversight Commission, sold sensitive witness information to a man who had publicly threatened the witness on social media.

The case traces back to a 2019 acquittal, where Bennett represented himself in two trials for a West Philadelphia murder after spending more than a decade in prison. Following his release, he took a position as a public defender, which granted him access to the city’s case management system. Investigators determined he used this access to retrieve documents that, according to the DA’s office, could only have been obtained by someone in his specific role.

District Attorney Larry Krasner addressed reporters Tuesday, stating that Bennett provided Thomas Scott with the witness’s full name and read him the unredacted arrest report. Krasner noted that the audit log for the case management system confirmed the access pattern. “It is a fundamental blow at the heart of the criminal justice system when people engage in the intimidation of witnesses,” Krasner said. “Even more so when the case involves extreme violence. It obstructs justice.”

Evidence presented by the prosecution indicates that Scott paid Bennett for the information. Scott was initially arrested on October 1, while Bennett was taken into custody on Tuesday. The court set bail at $3 million for Scott and $1 million for Bennett. Bennett will now proceed to trial on the new criminal charges.

Krasner added that the decision to charge Bennett was based strictly on the evidence. “What we are doing here, frankly, simply flows from the facts,” he said. “I would like to be in a position to say that this defendant had no such involvement, but he did, and the evidence is strong.”