Gosnell’s Philly assets remain frozen

West Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell agreed Wednesday to a continuation of a freeze on the properties he owns in Philadelphia County.

Lawyer Bernard Smalley said he asked for a temporary freeze last month after Gosnell and his wife requested a court-appointed lawyer because they couldn’t afford one themselves. Smalley represents the family of Karnamaya Mongar, a Virginia woman who died after a botched abortion, in a civil case against Gosnell.

“On the one hand, the DA’s office had uncovered assets that totaled a couple of million dollars,” Smalley said after a hearing at Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. “Then he wanted, and his wife wanted, counsel provided by the commonwealth because he said they were nearly indigent. Those two things don’t compute.”

Gosnell’s lawyer, Jack McMahon, said his client had no plans to liquidate his property so he wouldn’t have to hand it over if he is successfully sued.

“You don’t transfer property to your uncle for a dollar and then say you don’t have anything later on,” McMahon said. “That’s what this order is trying to prevent and Dr. Gosnell will follow that order.”

The order does not cover a $900,000 house at the Jersey shore. Gosnell may sell that property to pay his lawyers’ fees in the criminal case brought against him for the alleged murder of a woman and seven viable babies.

It is unclear how the freezing of his assets will affect Gosnell’s wife, Pearl. She is without a lawyer since a judge ordered hers to step down due to a conflict of interest.