Struggle overturns death sentence
Next step: Free Mumia!
By Monica Moorehead
and Larry Holmes
U.S. Federal District Judge William Yohn, in a 272-page
ruling issued on Dec. 18, threw out the death sentence for
Mumia Abu-Jamal that resulted from his 1982 trial. But Yohn
upheld Abu-Jamal's conviction on charges that he shot
Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.
There can be no question that lifting the 1982 death
sentence--a concession wrested by the worldwide movement in
support of Abu-Jamal--is a painful, bitter pill for the cops
and judges in the court system in Philadelphia to swallow. They
want to kill Abu-Jamal. And had it not been for the movement,
he would be dead.
The continued frame-up of Abu-Jamal has generated massive
rallies, marches and direct actions--from San Francisco to
Paris. For years demonstrations in the U.S. and around the
world have demanded freedom for this gifted Black journalist
who has never stopped being the "voice of the voiceless." And
twice, mass protests stopped the clock at the 11th hour when
Abu-Jamal was to have been executed.
Yohn's ruling comes on the heels of a Dec. 8 police attack
on a peaceful march of more than 1,000 in Philadelphia calling
for justice in Abu-Jamal's case. Several activists were injured
in the cop riot and six face multiple felony charges.
Across the U.S. and all over the world Abu-Jamal is renowned
as a political prisoner, framed up on a murder charge because
of his political beliefs. In fact, a man named Arnold Beverly
has confessed on videotape that he--not Abu-Jamal--shot
Faulkner. Yet Beverly's testimony has not been heard in a court
and Abu-Jamal remains on death row.
Judge Yohn was assigned to Abu-Jamal's case in October 1999.
He was charged with determining whether Abu-Jamal should have
an evidentiary hearing. Such a hearing would have allowed
suppressed evidence to finally be heard and entered into court
record that could prove Abu-Jamal's innocence. This would have
included the Beverly confession and the testimony of witnesses
who describe being coerced by police to lie for the prosecution
in the initial trial.
But Yohn's ruling denies Abu-Jamal the right to any
evidentiary hearing. And the judge's decision ignores the fact
that police and prosecutorial misconduct at the 1982 trial was
so blatant that it obliterated the possibility of any kind of
fair trial for Abu-Jamal. It doesn't overturn the unjust
first-degree murder conviction. And it doesn't open the door
for long-suppressed evidence to be heard.
Yohn threw out the death sentence based on his findings that
instructions to the 1982 jury were flawed. The judge concluded
that information was withheld from the jury that could have led
to a different sentence.
According to a Dec. 18 Associated Press report, Yohn ordered
the state of Pennsylvania to conduct a re-sentencing hearing
within 180 days. A re-sentencing hearing could result in life
imprisonment for Abu-Jamal. Or it could impose the death
penalty again.
An appeal by either the prosecution or the defense, however,
could lead to an overturning of Yohn's decision.
Abu-Jamal's lawyers plan to seek a new trial for Abu-Jamal.
They are appealing Judge Yohn's ruling to a federal appeals
court (Associated Press, Dec. 19). Philadelphia District
Attorney Lynn Abraham said her office would appeal the lifting
of the death sentence.
The dangerous part of Judge Yohn's decision is that it no
doubt will be used in an attempt to close the book on
Abu-Jamal's case. It aims to cover up the sham trial in 1982
and the conspiracy to suppress evidence that could have proved
his innocence, and to keep Abu-Jamal in jail for the rest of
his life.
The unyielding movement to save Abu-Jamal's life has exerted
pressure on the legal and political institutions of racist
repression that have been trying to legally lynch Abu-Jamal
because of his revolutionary, anti-imperialist and
anti-capitalist beliefs.
Progressive and revolutionary forces and the working-class
movement have to fight hard to make sure that Mumia Abu-Jamal's
case remains open legally and politically and that he wins his
freedom. The struggle to save Abu-Jamal's life and win his
release from prison is in essence a battle against the racist,
capitalist courts and the prison industrial complex. And every
worker and oppressed person will be affected by the
outcome.
Reprinted from the Dec. 27, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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