Legal update for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Published Dec 7, 2006 1:14 AM
The following letter was sent out on Nov. 14. Go to
www.millions4mumia.org to
read the response and to read other legal updates.
Dear Friends:
Two weeks ago the district attorney of Philadelphia filed a brief
in reply to our most recent brief filed on behalf of Mumia
Abu-Jamal. Even though this was to be the last of the briefs
before oral argument, we felt obligated to respond due to the
complexity of the issues and the government’s factual
misrepresentations. Attached is the Response of Appellee and
Appellant, Mumia Abu-Jamal, to Sur-Reply Brief, submitted this
week to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit,
Philadelphia.
This case is of enormous consequence. It concerns the political
repression of an outspoken journalist known globally as the
“Voice of the Voiceless,” the right to a fair trial
and the struggle against the death penalty. The authorities want
to kill my client in order to silence his voice and pen. We must
not let that occur. Racism and politics are threads that have run
through this case since his arrest on December 9, 1981, and
continue today.
Each of the issues under consideration by the federal court is of
great constitutional significance. They include:
• The prosecutor's exclusion of African Americans from
sitting on the jury.
• The bias and racism of the trial judge, Albert F. Sabo,
who stated that he was going to "help 'em fry the
n——r."
• The prosecutor's "appeal after appeal"
argument that essentially called upon the jurors to disregard the
right to the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt, and
err on the side of guilt.
• The judge's unfair and skewed jury instructions and
verdict form that resulted in the death penalty, since jurors
were precluded from considering any mitigating evidence unless
they all agreed on the existence of a particular special
circumstance.
We will be presenting oral argument before a three-judge panel in
the U.S. Court of Appeals. Even though no date has been set, this
will likely occur within the next few months.
My purpose remains to win this life-and-death struggle, gain a
new and fair trial and see my client walk out of jail a free
person. However, as I have warned, Mr. Abu-Jamal remains in great
danger.
Thank you for your concern in this campaign for
justice.
With best wishes,
Robert R. Bryan
Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
2088 Union Street, Suite 4,
San Francisco, Calif. 94123
Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
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