The Final Call

Emotions run high in latest hearing for Mumia Abu Jamal

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Pam Africa of the Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal at press conference before recent hearing. Photo: Michael Z. Muhammad

Mr. Abu Jamal was convicted of first-degree murder of Officer Faulkner in 1981. Supporters have argued for decades Mr. Abu Jamal is innocent, convicted unjustly, and his attorneys are fighting to have the conviction overturned. Having been given the death penalty, he is now serving a life sentence at the state correctional institution Mahanoy in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Abu Jamal did not attend the hearing.

Philadelphia Judge Leon Tucker after listening to oral arguments during the hearing held on Oct. 29 gave Mr. Abu Jamal’s lawyers 30 days to come up with additional evidence.

Mumia Abu Jamal

This is what provoked Ms. Faukner’s outburst. “I have another 30 days that I have to go through this pain,” Ms. Faulkner shouted to the judge before being ordered out of the courtroom.

“This is wrong,” she sobbed as she was being led out by court officers. Afterward, Judge Tucker addressed the court, stating, “The courtroom is sensitive to both sides. The court is not going to rush to judgment in this matter. So, to be clear, no matter how long it takes, this court is going to do the right thing.”

In what has become a two-year battle, Mr. Abu Jamal is attempting to have previous appeal attempts vacated so he can once again appeal his case. Mr. Abu Jamal’s attorneys argued that their client’s rights were violated after former district attorney Ron Castille failed to recuse himself in an appeals decision as a then-state Supreme Court judge. “Justice Castille has shown himself to be involved in this case, to be biased against a certain class of cases that our client falls into,” said defense attorney Judy Ritter during the hearing. The state’s argument is that as district attorney, Mr. Castille was only doing his job. “It’s nothing remarkable that a DA would send a letter to the governor asking him to sign death warrants which the governor was required to do,” attorney Tracey Kavanaugh responded.

Mr. Castille is a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge who refused to disqualify himself when Mr. Abu Jamal’s case came before the high court despite having been the Philadelphia District Attorney during prior appeals. Recently the United States Supreme Court has ruled such conduct to be unconstitutional. The defense is hoping that Judge Tucker finds that Mr. Castille was biased as a Supreme Court justice against Mr. Abu Jamal thus spring boarding a new review and possible new trial.

In an interview with The Final Call Johanna Fernandez, a history professor at Baruch College in New York and a consultant on Mr. Abu-Jamal’s legal team said this regarding the hearing: “The judge at the end seemed even-handed and said that he would take his time and was interested in producing justice. He said, ‘I’ll be candid, this is a difficult case.’”

Mr. Abu Jamal’s attorneys produced a letter then District Attorney Castille sent to a state senator, said Ms. Fernandez. That letter identified the names of nine prisoners to be executed with Mr. Abu Jamal being at the top of the list.

“It’s odd that the DA would send a state senator a list of people to be executed,” she commented. “It was sent to strengthen arguments for Senate Bill 956. It was a bill presented to get around a recent Supreme Court decision at the time known as the ‘Mill Case’ which argues if the jury gets bad or unclear instructions when deliberating on the death penalty then the case has to be thrown out,” said Prof. Fernandez. The objective of the letter was to help the senator argue and get around the Mills issue.

“Our attorneys argued that the letter is evidence of personal and direct involvement in Mumia’s case,” she said. The next court date is December 3 when the judge is expected to decide whether the appeal will go forward.