ABOVE PHOTO: Khasandra Franklin
Road rage and an alleged abuse of power are at the center of a lawsuit filed against an assistant district attorney and nine Philadelphia Police officers.
By Denise Clay-Murray
It had just started out as an evening out with a friend for Khasandra Franklin of East Mount Airy.
Somewhere along the way, it turned into an incident of road rage, a night in jail, and some very serious criminal charges. And now, the confrontation between Franklin, Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci, and what later became nine police officers, has turned into a lawsuit that’s been filed in Common Pleas Court alleging abuse of power.
It’s an incident that’s made Franklin change a lot of her routines. Among the charges made in the lawsuit are assault and battery, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“I really don’t leave the house anymore,” Franklin said in an interview arranged by one of her attorneys, Lynn Nichols. “I have a lot of anxiety and paranoia. Seeing a police officer triggers me.”
On Sept. 16, 2020, Franklin was driving on Kelly Drive toward her home in East Mount Airy when the incident occurred, according to the lawsuit. She merged onto Lincoln Drive from the intersection of Kelly Drive and Midvale Avenue.
The next thing Franklin knew, she was confronted by a man on a motorcycle. That man turned out to be Anthony Voci, who, until recently, was the Assistant District Attorney for the office’s Homicide Division.
He accused her of running him off the road and let her know in no uncertain terms that he was displeased, the suit alleges.
“He followed me to the light and started yelling at me,” Franklin said. “I got away from him, and then he pulled up in front of my car on his motorcycle and came up to the car. I swerved around him and went back to my house. The next thing I knew, there were six police cars and SUVs barricading my car.”
As it turned out, according to the lawsuit, Voci had called the police and accused Franklin of trying to kill him with her car. Eventually, Franklin was arrested and charged with a variety of offenses including aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.
Instead of going to the local precinct, like most people would be if they were involved in a traffic incident, she was taken to the Roundhouse near 8th and Market, which let her know just how serious things had become.
Eventually, the charges were dropped by Attorney Gen. Josh Shapiro. The case was moved there because a member of the District Attorney’s office was involved. But Franklin is still dealing with the complications of this road rage incident on what was supposed to be an uneventful night of fun.
“I was there for 24 hours,” she said. “Due to what happened, my bail was revoked from a DUI I had pending in Montgomery County. I lost my license. I lost my job because I couldn’t drive. I’m a single mother and my son lives an hour away. Because I couldn’t drive, I couldn’t see him. I’ve become a virtual Mom.”
“It has really been hard to get back to normal,” she continued. Among the things the lawsuit hopes to do is to make sure that no one ever has to say that again over an incident of road rage. “To have that level of authority exercised against her is wrong,” said Nichols, Franklin’s lawyer. “This should have been a minor conversation, but she was put into the criminal justice system and is suffering lifelong collateral consequences. This proves that the system needs correcting.”
There is no date set for hearing the lawsuit.
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