Judge Grants Latest Appeal for Mumia Abu-Jamal, in Part
By Kristen Johanson, KYW Newsradio
28 December 18
Philadelphia judge has re-instated Mumia Abu-Jamal post-conviction appellate
rights, more than 35 years after he convicted of killing Philadelphia Police
Officer Danny Faulkner in Center City.
City Judge Leon Tucker partially granted Abu-Jamal's appeal, saying former
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ron Castille should have recused himself
from Abu-Jamal's state Supreme Court appeal attempt "to ensure the
neutrality of the judicial process," but simultaneously said the court found
no evidence Castille was biased in his decision or had prior significant
involvement in the case, as the defense contends.
Abu-Jamal's latest appeal attempt is based on a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court
decision involving another Philadelphia man, Terrance Williams, who was
convicted in a separate murder. The high court ruled Castille should have
recused himself from that state Supreme Court decision, because he had
"personal significant involvement" as the city's district attorney.
Castille was the District Attorney when Abu-Jamal was going through his
appeal process on the lower-court level.
Abu-Jamal was convicted by a jury in the murder of Faulker in 1982, and he
was sentenced to death. But in 2011, then-District Attorney Seth Williams
decided to ask for life without the possibility of parole, following a
federal appeals court decision that jurors may have received misleading
instructions during the trial.
"Justice would best be served by allowing the petitioner (Abu-Jamal)
re-argument before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania," wrote Tucker, "before
a complete and clearly unbiased tribunal" or court.
In the court filing released Thursday afternoon, Tucker also pointed to two
missing documents brought to the court's attention by the defense, which he
said should have been held on to by the commonwealth.
The first is a memo from Castille to Deputy District Attorney Gayle
Barthold, and the second is a 1988 letter from then-Sen. Michael Fisher
asking about status information on certain capital cases.
"The unavailability of such documents may prejudice petitioner," Tucker
added.
The judge also said the commonwealth should have kept all documents related
to the case, adding, "It is ironic that the commonwealth accepts no
responsibility for the preservation of the memo request from Mr. Castille
yet has been able to retain the responsive document from Ms. Barthold that
the memo request from Mr. Castille was attached to."
He continues, saying, "The public expectation of impartial justice is
necessary. The slightest appearance of bias or lack of impartiality
undermines the entire judiciary hence the mandate of not only propriety but
the appearance of propriety."
Abu-Jamal's defense attorney, Judith L. Ritter, said in an emailed
statement: "Judge Tucker recognized the unconstitutional bias involved with
Justice Castille's sitting on the prior post-conviction appeals, and the
need for a new appeal untainted by such bias. This was a straightforward
application of federal and Pennsylvania law requiring cases to be decided by
judges whose impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned."
Abu-Jamal now has 30 days to appeal to the state Superior Court.
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