Affidavit details alleged beating of judge by boyfriend

In the fall, Philadelphia police found a Common Pleas Court judge bleeding and bruised at her Old City townhouse.

Leslie Fleisher - then mired in controversy over her courtroom management - told police that her boyfriend had choked her and pushed her against a wall in the home with enough force to cut her scalp during the Oct. 17 incident, according to court documents released yesterday by the state Attorney General's Office.

As she fled her home on Third Street, her boyfriend - Lewis B. Palmer, a detective with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office - chased her, Fleisher told police. Outside, he pushed her against a brick wall and kicked her after she fell to the ground, according to an affidavit of probable cause, the charging document in the case.

It is unclear from the court papers what time the incident occurred or who contacted police.

Palmer, 48, was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault against the judge and related counts.

Palmer left a voice-mail message with The Inquirer yesterday and referred all calls to his attorney, A. Charles Peruto Jr.

Said Peruto, "I've looked at the charges, interviewed my client, and I am completely confident that this will be an acquittal."

Fleisher has emerged as a controversial figure during the last two years of her decade-long tenure on the bench.

The Inquirer reported last month that lawyers have complained about Fleisher's absences and irregular working hours, growing backlog of cases, and behavior that has led to several courtroom confrontations with attorneys.

Yesterday, Samuel C. Stretton, Fleisher's attorney, said the judge had returned to work this week at the Criminal Justice Center after recovering from a six-week bout with pneumonia.

"She's contemplating retirement to do pro bono animal-rights work, something she's been talking about for two years," Stretton said. "She's working to wind down her case load."

Stretton, who will not be representing Fleisher in the assault case, said the judge would not comment on the alleged beating.

After the assault, according to the affidavit, an officer took Fleisher to Jefferson University Hospital to be treated for the cut on her head, redness around her neck, and scrapes to her knees, back, and left elbow. She left the hospital before seeing a doctor, the affidavit states.

Investigators that night took photographs of a large bloodstain on a wall where Fleisher said Palmer had banged her head. Additional blood was found on the trim and hinge of a door, according to the affidavit.

The District Attorney's Office referred the case to the state Attorney General's Office in October because of a potential conflict of interest, said Tasha Jamerson, spokeswoman for District Attorney Seth Williams. "You can't investigate one of your own," Jamerson said.

In an interview with investigators from the Attorney General's Office, Palmer conceded that he had been at Fleisher's residence the day of the assault and had had a physical altercation with her, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit said Palmer recorded conversations with Fleisher without her permission. On Oct. 20, Palmer's supervisor at the District Attorney's Office discovered six voice-mail messages on the supervisor's cell phone that were recorded conversations between Palmer and Fleisher, according to the affidavit.

Palmer told investigators that he had made the recordings, the affidavit said. As a result, the Attorney General's Office also charged Palmer with interception of electronic communications, or wiretapping.

"We don't know what his motive was," said Marc Costanzo, senior deputy attorney general. "But he recorded a conversation without her permission."

The Attorney General's Office, as the prosecuting agency, is representing Fleisher in the assault case.

Soon after the October incident, Palmer was placed on restricted duty. He was ordered to turn over his gun and told he could not participate in any police actions, Jamerson said.

"He was restricted to the office, where he covered the phones and things of that nature," Jamerson said.

After he was charged Tuesday, Palmer surrendered to police at Northeast Detectives. He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing next Thursday at the Criminal Justice Center and released on recognizance.

Palmer was suspended without pay Tuesday and given 30 days' notice with intent to dismiss.