[Ppnews] Mumia - Legal Update

[Political Prisoner News]

Mumia Abu-Jamal

November 11, 2009 By Robert R. Bryan
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/23107

In nearly three decades of being on 
Pennsylvania's death row, Mumia Abu-Jamal has 
become a global symbol in the campaign against 
the death penalty and human rights abuses.  There 
is an escalated effort by the authorities to see 
him die at the hands of the executioner. This is 
the most dangerous time for Mumia since his 1981 
arrest.  I am fighting for his life.  Public 
support is crucial to this campaign to save and 
free him.  There follows an overview of recent significant developments.

United State Supreme Court  We continue to 
litigate on behalf of Mumia in the U.S. Supreme 
Court.  Last year the U.S. Court of Appeals for 
the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, ruled that he 
was entitled to a new jury trial on the issue of 
the death penalty.  That victory never took 
effect because the state petitioned the Supreme 
Court for review.  The matter is pending.  Thus 
Mumia remains on death row and under a death sentence.

Even though the major briefing has been 
completed, the Supreme Court has withheld 
rendering a decision due to the pendency of a 
case from Ohio, Smith v. Spisak, which has a 
similar issue regarding instructional errors at 
the penalty phase.  In Mumia's case the jurors 
were instructed that they were precluded from 
considering any mitigating evidence unless all 12 
agreed on the particular circumstance.  The 
Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Spisak on 
October 13.  Mumia and I are anxious about the 
effect of that case because it is one of the 
worst imaginable.  As Shannon P. Duffy of The 
Legal Intelligencer wrote the next day: "In a 
bizarre twist of fate, Mumia Abu-Jamal . . . may 
find that his very life hinges on the outcome of 
the case of a neo-Nazi triple murderer who wore a 
Hitler mustache at trial as he testified proudly 
about his desire to kill blacks, Jews and 
gays."  That is ironic, for Mumia's life as a 
journalist and author has been committed to 
speaking out against racism, discrimination of 
any sort, inequality, injustice, and human rights abuses.

My office has received many inquiries as to when 
the Supreme Court will rule, my analysis of what 
occurred in Spisak, and what will the court 
decide.  First, I anticipate a decision within 
two months even though it is always difficult to 
accurately make such predictions.  Secondly, 
there are significant differences between the 
Spisak case and that of Mumia.  Most importantly, 
the controlling decision of Mills v. Maryland 
applies to Mumia's case but not to Spisak.  Mills 
was decided in 1988, a year before the 
Pennsylvania state proceedings became final in 
our case.  However, Spisak had already been 
decided when Mills came down; Mills is not 
retroactive.  The Spisak case actually concerns 
both the instructional issue and another on the 
ineffectiveness of the defense attorney due to 
his penalty phase argument.  Only the former has any relevance to Mumia.

The hearing was lively with Justice Sonia 
Sotomayor at the outset questioning the Ohio 
attorney general about the applicability of the 
Mills decision since it was decided after Spisak 
became final.  It seems that all the justices, 
with the exception of Clarence Thomas, had 
questions.  Finally, my impression at the end of 
the day was that clearly some of the justices 
were poised to reverse and rule for Ohio on the 
legal incompetence issue.  Whether there are 
enough votes for such a decision remains to be 
seen.  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Samuel A, 
Alito, Jr. were clearly bothered by the trial 
lawyer's poor penalty-phase jury argument, while 
Anthony Scalia thought it was "brilliant."  As to 
the instructional issue that affects Mumia, it 
does not seem so clear for there are different 
ways the court could go.  On the one hand it 
might not reach the issue since Mills does not 
apply, or because the court finds that the death 
penalty cannot stand in view of the lawyer's 
ineffectiveness.  On the other hand, the court 
could address the Mills issue which might affect 
my client's situation in different ways.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court  We are also 
litigating an issue concerning the reliability of 
the ballistics evidence presented at trial.  On 
April 20, 2009, we filed a Petition for Habeas 
Corpus Relief in the trial court, the Court of 
Common Pleas, Philadelphia.  The petition, based 
upon newly discovered evidence, was denied 
without a hearing on May 27, 2009.  The matter is 
being appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Recent activities  In recent months there have 
been many events regarding Mumia. A few of the more interesting, were:

The Netherlands and World Day Against the Death 
Penalty  October 10 was World Day Against the 
Death Penalty.  I was in the Netherlands at the 
invitation of Amnesty International to speak on 
behalf of Mumia.  That included a lecture at the 
prestigious Utrecht University school of law, 
sponsored by Ad Informandum.  My topic: Mumia 
Abu-Jamal and the Death Penalty: A Global Human 
Rights Crisis.  It was a great experience, for I 
have not encountered more bright and inquisitive 
students.  They were interested in why the United 
States, in company with countries such as Iran, 
China, and Saudi Arabia, is still in the business 
of executing people.  I also spoke at the showing 
of the extraordinary movie, In Prison My Whole 
Life, concerning my client and the death 
penalty.  Mumia and I are particularly indebted 
to Amnesty's Stef Arens, who was responsible for 
organizing these events.  Another highlight was 
seeing Arlette Stuip, who attended Goddard 
College with Mumia.  She and her husband Tom have remained his good friends.

Reporters Without Borders, Paris  Recently 
Reporters Without Borders published a video 
interview regarding Mumia and the latest case 
developments.  It is in English, French and 
German, and can be found at: 
<http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=34689>http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=34689.

Germany  There are various groups and individuals 
in Germany who are doing incredible work to save 
Mumia.  Last spring the Akademie der Künste 
(Academy of Arts), Berlin, hosted a panel 
discussion on Mumia to a capacity crowd.  It 
began with an except from In Prison My Whole 
Life.  Participating on the panel, was: Madame 
Danielle Mitterrand, former First Lady of France; 
Klaus Staeck, President of the Akademie; Johano 
Strasser, President of PEN Germany; Günter 
Wallraff, a well known author; Gerhart Rudolf 
Baum, member of the Bundestag (parliament), 
former Minister of the Interior, and United 
Nations representative; and me.  The work of 
supporters in Germany is a model of positive 
activism.  A video of the event is available, at: 
<http://www.adk.de/de/aktuell/forum_dokumentationen/forum_27.Akadgespr.html>http://www.adk.de/de/aktuell/forum_dokumentationen/forum_27.Akadgespr.html. 


France  The movement for Mumia in France is 
strong, led by the Ensemble Sauvons Mumia 
Abu-Jamal which is composed of approximately 80 
organizations.  Come rain, sleet or snow, 
supporters continue to demonstrate each week at 
the U.S. Embassy in Paris.  The film In Prison My 
Whole Life is being shown in theaters around 
France.  In September, Nicole and I joined 
Claudine Cordillot, Mayor of Villejuif, a Paris 
suburb, for a showing of the movie and a 
presentation afterwards.  One of Mme. Cordillot's 
first acts upon taking office in 1999 was to come 
out in support of Mumia.  The Council of 
Villejuif unanimously declared both him and Nelson Mandela citizens of honor.

Tax-deductible Donations for Mumia's Legal 
Defense  We continue to receive e-mail from 
people unsure as to how and where they may send 
donations for Mumia's legal defense, because a 
few websites are falsely soliciting for legal 
donations.  The only way to guarantee that 
donations go only to the legal defense, is to 
make checks payable to the National Lawyers Guild 
Foundation (indicate Mumia on the bottom 
left).  The U.S. donations are tax deductible 
under the Internal Revenue Code Code, section 
501(c)(3), and should be mailed to:

Committee To Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
P.O. Box 2012
New York, NY 10159-2012


Conclusion  Mumia's life remains in great 
danger.  My career has been marked by 
successfully representing people facing death in 
murder cases.  Our goal is to save Mumia's life and win his freedom.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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