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| Mumia Abu-Jamal |
The Supreme Court has rejected a request from Philadelphia prosecutors who want to re-impose a death sentence on former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a white Philadelphia police officer 30 years ago.
The justices on Tuesday refused to get involved in the racially charged case. A federal appeals court ordered a new sentencing hearing for Abu-Jamal after finding that the death-penalty instructions given to the jury at Abu-Jamal's 1982 trial were potentially misleading.
Courts have upheld Abu-Jamal's conviction for killing Officer Daniel Faulkner over objections that African-Americans were improperly excluded from the jury.
The federal appeals court in Philadelphia said prosecutors could agree to a life sentence for Abu-Jamal or try again to sentence him to death.
Source: Associated Press, October 11, 2011
High court ruling means execution unlikely in 1981 cop-killing
Philadelphia (CNN) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal to get a new sentencing hearing for the killing of a Philadelphia police officer 30 years ago.
The high court rejected a request from the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office to overturn the federal appeals court decision declaring the death sentence unconstitutional for Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther who was convicted in 1982 of gunning down a Philadelphia police officer.
Abu-Jamal will be automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole unless Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams seeks another death sentence from a new jury. Williams had no comment Tuesday.
His attorneys, who have repeatedly argued that confusing jury instructions and the verdict form given to the jury favored a death sentence instead of life in prison, applauded the court's ruling.
"At long last, the profoundly troubling prospect of Mr. Abu-Jamal facing an execution that was produced by an unfair and unreliable penalty phase has been eliminated. Like all Americans, Mr. Abu-Jamal was entitled to a proper proceeding that takes into account the many substantial reasons why death was an inappropriate sentence," John Payton, director of the NAACP Legal Defense &a Educational Fund, said in a statement.
Abu-Jamal's case will now return to the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas for final sentencing.
In April, Abu-Jamal was granted a new sentencing hearing by a federal appeals court, sparking a threat by the prosecutor to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
In its 32-page decision, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals accepted defense arguments that the jury instructions at Abu-Jamal's original 1982 murder trial were unclear. The court's decision does not grant Abu-Jamal a new trial and his conviction of murder stands.
In its 32-page decision, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals accepted defense arguments that the jury instructions at Abu-Jamal's original 1982 murder trial were unclear. The court's decision does not grant Abu-Jamal a new trial and his conviction of murder stands.
Source: CNN, October 11, 2011
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