I suppose that if he ever wins the appeal, if he actually is released from
prison, this would be a victory for truth and justice. But the idea that he's
bee in prison for son long, was on death row, was isolated, has become old and
sick, that these cops did all that and got away with it for so long, that
prosecutors and judges cooperated, it's truly infuriating.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Friday, October 04, 2019 12:25 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] A new phase in Mumia’s case
https://socialistaction.org/2019/10/03/a-new-phase-in-mumias-case/
A new phase in Mumia???s case
/ 13 hours ago
Oct. 2019 Judith Ritter (cherri-gregg KCBS) Mumia Abu-Jamal???s chief attorney,
Judith Ritter, speaks to the press earlier this year. She was also the main
speaker at a Sept. 28 meeting in Philadelphia to build solidarity actions to
defend Mumia. (Photo:
Cherri Gregg)
By JOHN LESLIE
At a meeting in Philadelphia on Sept. 28, organizers discussed the opening of a
new phase in the fight to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, the noted journalist and
political prisoner who was convicted on false charges of killing a Philadelphia
police officer in 1981.
Last year, in a series of court appearances, Mumia???s lawyers challenged
Mumia???s conviction and argued for a new appeals process under the Williams v.
Pennsylvania decision. Terrance Williams had been convicted and sentenced to
death for robbery and murder. Ron Castille, the chief justice of the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court, had been the district attorney of Philadelphia when
Williams was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. When Williams appealed,
his attorneys asked that Justice Castille recuse himself from the case given
his previous role as prosecutor. Castille refused. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that a prosecutor who later becomes a judge should recuse himself or herself if
asked to hear an appeal in a case they had prosecuted.
Mumia???s attorneys sought to prove Castille???s involvement in Mumia???s
prosecution, since Castille had refused to recuse himself from Mumia???s
appeal. They also argued on the basis of bias. On Dec. 27, 2018, Philadelphia
Common Pleas Court Judge Leon Tucker ruled in favor of Mumia Abu-Jamal, holding
that the actions of former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Judge Ronald Castille had
demonstrated a ???lack of impartiality???
and ???the appearance of bias.???
Attorney Judith Ritter explained to the Sept. 28 meeting that this was based on
the discovery of a 1990 letter from DA Castille to Governor Bob Casey urging
him to sign death warrants for death row inmates ???to send a clear and
dramatic message to all police killers that the death penalty in Pennsylvania
actually means something.???
Initially, the current Philadelphia district attorney, Larry Krasner, had
indicated that he planned to appeal Tucker???s decision. Krasner reversed
course on April 17, withdrawing his appeal.?? This represents a major victory
in the fight to free Mumia Abu-Jamal.
What was in the boxes?
On Dec. 28, 2018, employees of the district attorney???s office announced that
while searching for office furniture they had found six previously
???unknown??? boxes labeled with Mumia???s name. Activists immediately
questioned the circumstances under which these boxes were ???misplaced,???
In these boxes, Mumia???s attorney, Judith Ritter, discovered new information
that points to prosecutorial misconduct in Mumia???s original trial.
For example, the notes of prosecutor Joe McGill from 1982 indicate the race of
potential jurors in Mumia???s case, a potential violation of the Batson
decision, which states that a juror may not be dismissed through a
prosecutor???s peremptory challenge on the basis of race and that the
prosecutor must provide a valid reason for doing so.
With the agreement of Judge Sabo, the DA???s office failed to notify the
defense that a supposed eyewitness, Robert Chobert, a cab driver, had a
suspended driver???s license and at the time of the trial was on probation for
an arson-for-hire crime in which he threw a Molotov cocktail at a school. Also
in the newly-discovered information was the fact that Chobert had written a
letter to McGill demanding to know, ???where???s my money???? During the 1995
appeal, it was revealed that Chobert believed that the DA???s office would help
him get his license back.
Another witness, Cynthia White, had pending prosecutions for prostitution and
was brought to testify against Mumia from jail in Massachusetts. Prosecutors
offered to help White out with her cases in exchange for her testimony. Defense
lawyers were not notified. In a memo from after Mumia???s trial, assistant DAs
were told to ???talk to Joe McGill??? before proceeding with charges against
White. It???s unusual that a homicide prosecutor would take an interest in
minor cases.
Another recent development is that Maureen Faulkner, the widow of Officer
Faulkner has filed a motion pro se alleging that District Attorney Krasner and
others in his offices have conflicts of interest in Mumia???s case and asking
that the case be taken from the jurisdiction of the DA and placed under the
aegis of the state attorney general, who has been hiring former ADA???s fired
by Krasner.
The frame-up and mass struggle
Mumia Abu-Jamal, an award-winning journalist and former member of the Black
Panther Party (BPP), was convicted of the 1981 murder of police officer Daniel
Faulkner in a frame-up trial featuring unreliable witnesses and little physical
evidence. The district attorney???s office used Mumia???s former membership in
the BPP to argue for the death penalty. At the time of the trial, Judge Albert
Sabo, also a member of the FOP, was overheard by a white court stenographer,
saying that he was going to ???help them [prosecutors] fry that n****r.???
The Philadelphia DA???s office is well known for biased prosecutions and
suppression of evidence in both death penalty and other cases. The DA???s
office was exposed for a 1986 training video that taught assistant DAs how to
keep Blacks off juries. In Mumia???s case, crime scene photos taken by
photojournalist Pedro Polokoff showed cops holding guns taken in evidence with
their bare hands, and showed the hat of deceased Officer Daniel Faulkner placed
on top of Mumia???s brother Billy Cook???s VW, though it appears on the
sidewalk in the official police photos. The ballistics evidence was
questionable. The Polokoff photos also don???t show the cab allegedly driven by
Chobert at the scene.
An international mass movement grew in response to Mumia???s case. The
movement???s steadfast determination to save Mumia???s life helped win a
reversal of the death sentence, which was commuted to a life sentence.
Although Mumia???s death sentence was overturned, he was later struck by a
series of potentially life-threatening illnesses. It became clear that the
Department of Corrections was neglecting symptoms of diabetes. He experienced
chronic fatigue, painful itching, and eczema, which worsened when doctors
prescribed a topical ointment. In 2015, Mumia was hospitalized for diabetes and
in the same year initiated legal action to receive treatment for Hepatitis C.
It took a two-year struggle to get life-saving medication for Mumia???s
Hepatitis C.
More recently, Mumia???s supporters have successfully fought to make sure that
he received cataract surgery to stave off the threat of blindness.
The left eye was successfully corrected on Aug. 29, and the next surgery is to
be this month. At every turn, Mumia and his supporters have struggled to make
sure that he received proper treatment in the face of death by medical neglect.
The success of the next phase of the legal case depends on our ability to build
a mass mobilization of all supporters of human rights and justice around the
demand, Free Mumia! It wasn???t legal arguments alone that beat back the threat
of execution. Working people and the oppressed can???t rely on the courts, cops
and capitalist politicians to protect us.
Now is the time to intensify the fight to free Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Activists are planning a march for Mumia and all victims of police violence on
Oct. 4 in Philadelphia. Assemble at the Rizzo statue, 15th and JFK Blvd., at 4
p.m.
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October 3, 2019 in Black Liberation, Prisons. Tags: Mumia Abu-Jamal
Related posts
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! All out Feb. 26 and March 27!
Mumia Abu-Jamal victory: Philadelphia DA withdraws his appeal
Philadelphia DA???s office stonewalls at hearing for Mumia Abu-Jamal
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