Legal update on Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case
Published Aug 3, 2006 10:08 PM
Following are excerpts from a letter written by Robert R. Bryan, the lead
attorney for death row political prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal. To download the
124-page brief go to www.iacenter.org or
www.millions4mumia.org
Dear Friends:
On July 20,
2006, we filed the Brief of Appellee and Cross Appellant, Mumia Abu-Jamal, in
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia. (Abu-Jamal v.
Horn, U.S. Ct. of Appeals Nos. 01-9014, 02-9001.) This brief is of great
significance concerning my client’s right to a fair trial, due process of
law, not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, and equal protection
of the law, guaranteed by the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to
the U.S. Constitution. The issues the court is hearing are:
Claim 14
Whether Mr. Abu-Jamal was denied the right to due process of law and a fair
trial because of the prosecutor’s “appeal-after-appeal”
argument which encouraged the jury to disregard the presumption of innocence and
reasonable doubt, and err on the side of guilt.
Claim 16 Whether the
prosecution’s exclusion of African Americans from sitting on the jury
violated Mr. Abu-Jamal’s rights to due process and equal protection of the
law, and contravened Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986).
Claim 25
Whether the verdict form and jury instructions that resulted in the death
penalty deprived Mr. Abu-Jamal of the right to due process of law, equal
protection of the law, and not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment,
and violated Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. 367 (1988), since the judge precluded
the jurors from considering any mitigating evidence unless they all agreed on
the existence of a particular circumstance.
Claim 29 Whether Mr.
Abu-Jamal was denied due process and equal protection of the law during
post-conviction hearings as the result of the bias and racism of Judge Albert F.
Sabo which included the comment that he was “going to help ‘em fry
the n——r.”
The National Lawyers Guild, and the NAACP
Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., will be filing separate amicus curiae
(friend of the court) briefs in the near future. This should strengthen our
quest to see justice done.
It is a remarkable accomplishment that the
court is hearing issues that go to the very essence of Mr. Abu-Jamal’s
right to a fair trial. This is the first time that any court has made a ruling
that could lead to a new trial and freedom. Nevertheless, he remains on
Pennsylvania’s death row and in great danger.
Mr. Abu-Jamal, the
“voice of the voiceless,” is a powerful symbol in the international
campaign against the death penalty and for human rights. The goal of Professor
Judith L. Ritter, associate counsel, and I is to see that the many wrongs which
have occurred in this case are righted and that this brave man is freed.
Your support and concern is appreciated.
With best wishes,
Robert R. Bryan
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