Senate delays Philly DA’s impeachment trial amid court case

FILE – Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner speaks with members of the media during a news conference in Philadelphia, on Oct. 13, 2022. The separation of powers, and where legislative authority stops and the court’s begins, were central to arguments Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, in court over a lawsuit by Krasner, Philadelphia’s elected prosecutor, challenging the state Legislature’s attempt to remove him from office. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s state Senate is postponing a trial seeking to remove Philadelphia’s progressive district attorney on the heels of a court ruling that said the impeachment articles don’t meet the constitutionally required standard. The motion was approved unanimously Wednesday in the Republican-controlled Senate and postpones a trial indefinitely for Democrat Larry Krasner. The trial had been scheduled to begin next Jan. 18. However, that was thrown into doubt by last month’s ruling by Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler. She wrote that the impeachment articles approved by the House of Representatives don’t rise to the constitutionally required standard of “misbehavior in office.” The practical effect of Ceisler’s ruling wasn’t immediately clear.