Rally Supports Mumia Abu-Jamal during Federal Appeal Hearing
event detailsposted by: Joseph Piette begins: Jan 1, 5:00 am ends: Jan 1, 5:00 am location: Federal Court Building, Philadelphia |
Over 500 anti-death penalty activists rallied in support of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal as arguments for his death or for life in prison were being heard before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
The three-judge panel are to decide whether written instructions given to Abu-Jamal's 1982 jury may have implicitly encouraged jurors to choose the death penalty rather than a life sentence.
The court previously ordered a new sentencing hearing for Abu-Jamal, but the U.S. Supreme Court this year ordered the court to reconsider.
After the hour-long hearing, several activists explained to the assembled crowd that the hearing's purpose was limited to deciding whether Mumia would get a new hearing on the sentencing phase of his 1981 trial. The speakers, however, demanded either freedom or a new trial for the death row inmate, since his first trial was riddled with prosecutorial and judicial impropieties.
A decision by today's panel is not expected for months.
photos by Joseph Piette
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