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Please forward:<br><br>
Death Penalty Again Looms Over Mumia's Head<br>
July 5, 2004<br><br>
On June 29, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit lifted
<br>
its stay in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and ordered briefing. At
issue <br>
is whether the death judgment should stand. Also pending is the
<br>
prosecution’s unconstitutional use of racism in jury selection.<br><br>
Robert R. Bryan, Mumia’s lead attorney, has summed up the impact of the
<br>
latest developments:<br><br>
“Mumia's case is now moving forward. He is in extremely grave
danger. <br>
The authorities want to silence his voice and pen. They thought
this <br>
could be accomplished by convicting this innocent man and placing him on
<br>
death row. However, his voice against injustice and oppression is
now <br>
stronger then ever, and is heard and read throughout the world. The
<br>
government knows that the only way to stop Mumia is to murder him in the
<br>
name of the law, to execute him. In over three decades of
litigating <br>
death-penalty cases, I have not seen one in which the government wants
<br>
so badly to kill a client. We must not rest until Mumia is
free!” <br><br>
The Court of Appeals briefing order came on the heels of a U.S. Supreme
<br>
Court decision in Beard v. Banks, ___ U.S. ___, 2004 WL 1402567 (June
<br>
24, 2004). The issue is whether this ruling should apply to the
case of <br>
Mumia. The prosecution is contending that the order for Mumia’s
<br>
execution must remain and be carried out. However, it is the view
of <br>
Mr. Bryan that “this tragically unfair decision in the Banks case should
<br>
not have an effect on Mumia.”<br>
<br>
Mr. Bryan explained that Beard v. Banks is a complicated case. The
<br>
Supreme Court ruled on the appeal by Pennsylvania stemming from a Court
<br>
of Appeals decision that invalidated the death sentence of George Banks,
<br>
who has been on death row over 20 years for multiple murder. Mr.
Banks' <br>
death sentence had been overturned on the grounds that the jury <br>
instructions violated a Supreme Court ruling which held that jurors did
<br>
not have to agree unanimously on the existence of mitigating <br>
circumstances in order to vote against death. The issue in the
Banks <br>
appeal was whether Mills v. Maryland, 486 U.S. 367 (1988) could be <br>
applied retroactively, as the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit had
<br>
held.<br><br>
On June 24 the Supreme Court reversed in a 5-4 decision written by <br>
Justice Clarence Thomas. He concluded that the Mills case, which
held <br>
unconstitutional capital sentencing schemes that require juries to <br>
disregard mitigating factors not found unanimously, did not apply <br>
retroactively. It was determined that the Banks conviction became
final <br>
in 1987, thus the 1988 Mills decision did not affect his case even <br>
though what had occurred was unconstitutional. Hence, Mr. Banks and
<br>
others similarly situated could not benefit from the Mills decision and
<br>
his death judgment will stand. It is understood that about 30 other
<br>
Pennsylvania death sentences are at stake for similar concerns.<br><br>
Mr. Bryan pointed out that Justice Stevens, joined by Justices Souter,
<br>
Ginsburg, and Breyer, strongly dissented. Justice Stevens said that
the <br>
“use of such a procedure is unquestionably unconstitutional today, and I
<br>
believe it was equally so in 1987 when respondent’s death sentence <br>
became final.” He further explained that “Mills simply represented
a <br>
straightforward application of our longstanding view that ‘the Eighth
<br>
and Fourteenth Amendments cannot tolerate the infliction of a sentence
<br>
of death under [a] legal syste[m] that permit[s] the unique penalty to
<br>
be . . . wantonly and . . . freakishly imposed.’” Justice Souter
said <br>
that “a death sentence based upon a verdict of 11 jurors who would have
<br>
relied on a given mitigating circumstance to spare a defendant’s life,
<br>
and a single holdout who blocked them from doing so, would surely be an
<br>
egregious failure to express the public conscience accurately.” He
<br>
found that too much importance is given “to the finality of capital
<br>
sentences and not enough to their accuracy.”<br><br>
There are other legal developments concerning the legal fight to free
<br>
Mumia. Robert Bryan is awaiting a ruling on a petition he filed in
the <br>
trial court, the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia, concerning new
<br>
evidence of innocence and prosecutorial fraud. He will also be
<br>
attempting to go back into the U.S. District Court regarding the <br>
statement by the trial judge, who said during the trial in reference to
<br>
Mumia:<br><br>
"Yeah, and I'm going to help'em fry the nigger.” <br><br>
<br>
Mumia Abu-Jamal is an award winning author and broadcast journalist. He
<br>
has been languishing on Pennsylvania’s death row for over 23 yrs. <br>
Writing from a solitary confinement cell, his essays have reached a
<br>
worldwide audience. Mumia is the author of five books including
"Live <br>
>From Death Row", "Death Blossoms", "All Things
Censored", “Faith of Our <br>
Fathers” and the recently released “We Want Freedom.” They have
sold <br>
over 150,000 copies and been translated into seven languages. His
1982 <br>
murder trial and subsequent conviction have been the subject of great
<br>
debate. <br>
<br>
Mumia's insightful essays and melodic baritone breathe life into the
<br>
numbing statistic -- 5.1 million people under correctional control.
<br>
Whether Mumia Abu-Jamal's voice will reach the airwaves, and ultimately
<br>
whether he lives or dies, will be a true test of the strength of our
<br>
struggle. It will also depend on our independence, the depth of our
<br>
courage, and our will to organize. <br><br>
Legal Overview: “The government’s quest to murder in the name of the law
<br>
is based upon its desire to silence Mumia’s voice and pen. This
case <br>
has been riddled with racism and fraud since his arrest 1981. The
trial <br>
was a travesty of justice. Mumia is innocent.” Robert R.
Bryan, Esq. <br><br>
A decision in Mumia’s first and only federal habeas corpus appeal was
<br>
issued on Dec. 18, 2001 by Judge William Yohn, U.S. District Court. In
<br>
that ruling, Mumia’s death sentence was reversed, but his conviction was
<br>
upheld. Both the Philadelphia DA and Mumia’s lawyers appealed. The
<br>
Court granted the DA’s motion to keep Mumia on death row. If the
appeal <br>
panel grants relief on Mumia’s death sentence, the case will go back for
<br>
a re-trial on whether Mumia is again sentenced to death, or is to spend
<br>
the remainder of his life in prison. Mumia's attorneys are
seeking a <br>
completely new trial, and have issues pending in both state and federal
<br>
courts. In order for Mumia to be released from prison he must first
<br>
have a new trial. For legal updates and to see an excellent summary
of <br>
the case visit:
<a href="http://www.freemumia.org/Petition.Mar.8.pdf" eudora="autourl">www.freemumia.org/Petition.Mar.8.pdf</a>
<br><br>
Health Crisis Update: In the past year Mumia has had two serious bouts <br>
of inflammation of his ankle and leg with discoloration, caused by his <br>
many years on death row. Mumia needs to be seen by an outside doctor <br>
for a diagnosis and a health care plan. He is housed in isolation at a <br>
supermax security control unit on death row.<br><br>
<br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
----------------------<br><br>
“I have never seen a case where the government wanted so desperately to <br>
kill one of my clients. Mumia Abu-Jamal is in grave danger." Robert R. <br>
Bryan, Esq., Lead Attorney <br><br>
10 Things you Can Do to Help Free Mumia <br><br>
1. Get involved. Contact International Concerned Friends and Family of <br>
Mumia Abu-Jamal, P.O. Box 19709, Philadelphia, PA 19143, (Tel (215) <br>
476-8812) <a href="http://www.mumia.org/" eudora="autourl">www.Mumia.org</a>. <br><br>
2. Contribute to Mumia Abu-Jamal's Legal Defense Fund. Write a check to <br>
the National Lawyers Guild Foundation/Mumia. Make sure to write Mumia <br>
on the memo line, and mail to: Friends of MAJ, 130 Morningside Drive, <br>
Suite 6C, NY, NY 10027.<br><br>
3. Call, write or fax Ed Rendell, Governor, to demand a new trial for <br>
Mumia: 225 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120, 717-787-2500 ph <br>
717-783-1198 fax. <br><br>
4. Organize a speaking engagement in your town or at a college with <br>
Mumia Abu-Jamal’s lead attorney Robert R. Bryan (Bryanlawsf@aol.com).<br><br>
5. Call your local community radio station and ask them to play Mumia's <br>
insightful commentaries, hear the commentaries at <a href="http://www.prisonradio.org/" eudora="autourl">www.prisonradio.org</a>. <br><br>
6. Contact Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Director Jeffrey A. <br>
Beard and ask that inhumane conditions, isolation, and torture of <br>
death-row inmates be immediately addressed. (717) 975-4918 PA Dept of <br>
Corrections, 2520 Lisburn Road P.O. Box 598 Camp Hill, PA 17001-0598<br><br>
7. Write to Mumia Abu-Jamal, AM 8335, 175 Progress Dr., Waynesburg, PA <br>
15370. <br><br>
8. Call 1-800-VISIT-PA to say you will only vacation in Pennsylvania <br>
when Mumia is granted a new trial, a moratorium on executions is <br>
enacted, and the MOVE 9 are free. <br><br>
9. Buy his new book “We Want Freedom” (<a href="http://www.southendpress.org). /" eudora="autourl">www.southendpress.org). </a> Ask your <br>
local bookstore to carry Mumia’s books.<br><br>
10. Join your local Mumia organizing group, or start a new one. For more <br>
information about the death penalty and the pennsylvania prison system <br>
contact <a href="http://www.prisonsociety.org/" eudora="autourl">www.prisonsociety.org</a>;<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
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