[Pnews] Mumia Abu Jamal Appeal Denied!

[Prisoner News]

Mobilization 4 Mumia Update - Mumia Abu Jamal Appeal Denied! The high 
court said appeal was untimely, adding that the lower court shouldn’t 
have reinstated any part of his appeal because it lacked jurisdiction.
https://mobilization4mumia.com

Peace Everyone,

*We regret to share with you some alarming news on the continued case of 
Political Prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal*

/PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio)/ — The Pennsylvania Superior Court has 
challenged Mumia Abu-Jamal’s latest effort for an overturned conviction 
and new trial — nearly 40 years after he was convicted of killing 
Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner.

The high court said Abu-Jamal’s appeal was untimely, adding that the 
lower court shouldn’t have reinstated any part of his appeal because it 
lacked jurisdiction.

This fifth appeal attempt — filed in 2016 — was based on a federal 
ruling involving former Philadelphia District Attorney Ron Castille, who 
later became a state Supreme Court justice and ruled on a death penalty 
appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Castille had an “unconstitutional 
risk of bias” as the district attorney.

ABU-JAMAL’S ATTORNEYS ARGUED TO A PHILADELPHIA JUDGE IN 2018 THAT 
CASTILLE WAS ALSO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY WHEN ABU-JAMAL WAS CONVICTED, 
AND A STATE SUPREME COURT JUDGE WHEN HE APPEALED.

And, they pointed to a letter Castille penned to the governor in 1990, 
urging the death penalty be used to send a “clear and dramatic message 
to all police killers that the death penalty in Pennsylvania actually 
means something.”

The Pennsylvania Superior Court concluded that “the 1990 letter cannot 
create a reasonable inference that Justice Castille had a personal 
interest in the outcome of the litigation,” court documents say. “There 
is no evidence that Castille had ever personally participated in the 
prosecution of Abu-Jamal.

“The 1990 letter is not evidence of prior prosecutorial participation. 
It is evidence that while acting as an advocate, District Attorney 
Castille took a policy position to advance completion of the appellate 
process for convicted murderers: ‘I very strongly urge you immediately 
to issue death warrants in each and every one of these cases. Only such 
action by you will cause these cases to move forward in a legally 
appropriate manner.’ He was not arguing that the law should be changed 
or should be ignored. Rather, he simply took a position to facilitate 
collateral review of death sentences which was subscribed to by many 
prosecutors at the time.”But, the state Superior Court noted, Castille 
didn’t list Abu-Jamal, and they say Abu-Jamal didn’t file a new 
petition, using the letter as an argument, in time.

“Further,” the decision reads, “the 1990 letter was dated June 15th. At 
that time, Abu-Jamal’s direct appeal was still pending before the 
Supreme Court of the United States. … As such, Abu-Jamal was not even in 
the class of litigants that District Attorney Castille was referencing 
in the letter. The 1990 letter therefore cannot create a reasonable 
inference that Justice Castille was personally biased against Abu-Jamal.”

RELATED
Pa. Supreme Court denies widow’s appeal to remove Philly DA from 
Abu-Jamal case

Abu Jamal was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder of Faulkner in 
1982. Over the past four decades, five of his appeals have been quashed.

In 1989, the state’s highest court affirmed Abu-Jamal’s death penalty 
conviction, and in 2012, he was re-sentenced to life in prison.

Abu-Jamal, 66, remains in prison. He can appeal to the state Supreme 
Court, or he can file a new appeal.

KYW Newsradio reached out to Abu-Jamal’s attorneys for comment. They 
shared this statement in full:

/Today, the Superior Court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to 
consider issues raised by Mr. Abu-Jamal in prior appeals. Two years ago, 
the Court of Common Pleas ordered reconsideration of these appeals 
finding evidence of an appearance of judicial bias when the appeals were 
first decided. We are disappointed in the Superior Court’s decision and 
are considering our next steps./

/While this case was pending in the Superior Court, the Commonwealth 
revealed, for the first time, previously undisclosed evidence related to 
Mr. Abu-Jamal’s case. That evidence includes a letter indicating that 
the Commonwealth promised its principal witness against Mr. Abu-Jamal 
money in connection with his testimony. In today’s decision, the 
Superior Court made clear that it was not adjudicating the issues raised 
by this new evidence. This new evidence is critical to any fair 
determination of the issues raised in this case, and we look forward to 
presenting it in court./

https://www.audacy.com/kywnewsradio/news/local/pennsylvania-superior-court-rejects-mumia-abu-jamal-appeal-ron-castille 
<https://jerichony.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0aca83ec057f583557dec5ce0&id=7f022bb08c&e=e9f3d86b9a>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20211027/a4c89b09/attachment.htm>