Here's hoping Abu-Jamal gets new trial so the whole story can finally be revealed.
It may be that the rush to deny Mumia Abu-Jamal a retrial and see him die in a gas chamber or by injection is such a well-oiled machine, that even proof or evidence itself won't slow down its campaign. This is very distressing in view of the still ongoing thug-mentality of much of Philadelphia's police. Consider the recent videotaped incident of 7 Philly officers beating down a handcuffed black man, Kyle Byrd. Business as usual in the City of Brotherly Love.
Just this past Thursday (5/17) 200 of Abu-Jamal's supporters held a protest outside of the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit according to the Associated Press (the Internationalist listed 500 demonstrators) Abu-Jamal's attorney Robert Bryan will try to push for a new trial based on jury-rigging and a racially biased judge at the original trial way back in '82. To be honest with you I first became known of this case back in '94, but from what I've read and the people close to Abu-Jamal that I spoke with back then, race bias doesn't even begin to describe the late Albert Sabo. The man possessed a blatant shameless contempt that was both indicative of his name and his intent; Sabotage. Indeed this was his behavior pattern from the pretrial hearings to the appeals process. Sabo would have certainly been in his element had he lived long enough to be appointed to a high court during the Bush Administration, bold, hateful, in-your-face. Confident of his corruption, not caring if you knew. A court reporter named Terrie Maurer-Carter said she overheard Sabo say in court "I'm going to help 'em fry the nigger." He'd already sent 31 to Death Row. Burn in Hell Fuehrer.
"In 2001 (12/01) a federal judge (William Yohn) did throw out his (death) sentence citing improper jury instructions but upheld Abu-Jamal's conviction," says AP. In the years following his supporters never quite bought into his removal from death row and indeed on 3/17/06 the State of Pennsylvania filed an appeal seeking to reinstate the order to execute Abu-Jamal. This latest hearing is before a panel of 3 judges; Chief Judges Anthony Scirica and Judge Robert Cowen (both Reagan appointees) and Judge Thomas Ambro (a Clinton pick). Reportedly they don't seem too favorable to the prosecution. According to super soul sister Cheryl Wright who works for a law firm and has been intimate with the Abu-Jamal case for years, though these rulings could take anywhere from 30-90 days, these 3 rd Circuit judges are quick, they know the case thoroughly and they usually judge cases constitutionally. A far cry from the racists' tactics of Sabo and then-DA Ed Rendell (PA's current Governor).
2 of the 3 judges have to rule in Mumia's favor just to prove Rendell struck 10 blacks from the jury (compared to 5 whites) Getting a retrial is a tall order but very crucial, there's still much we don't know about the murder of officer Daniel Faulkner, Mumia and all the players in that tragedy.
--Chris Stevenson is a columnist for the Buffalo Criterion , Contact him at
pointblankDTA@yahoo.com
