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<h1><b>Court: Mumia Deserves New
Hearing</b></h1><font size=3>
<a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iu7PTDiKqmVlPwnGH1mYVrTWha9gD8VLQSTG0" eudora="autourl">
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iu7PTDiKqmVlPwnGH1mYVrTWha9gD8VLQSTG0<br>
<br>
</a>By KATHY MATHESON – 2 hours ago <br><br>
PHILADELPHIA (AP) A federal appeals court on Thursday said former Black
Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal cannot be executed for murdering a Philadelphia
police officer without a new penalty hearing.<br><br>
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Abu-Jamal's conviction should
stand, but that he should get a new sentencing hearing because of flawed
jury instructions. If prosecutors don't want to give him a new death
penalty hearing, Abu-Jamal would be sentenced automatically to life in
prison.<br><br>
Abu-Jamal, 53, once a radio reporter, has attracted a legion of artists
and activists to his cause in a quarter-century on death row. A
Philadelphia jury convicted him in 1982 of killing Officer Daniel
Faulkner, 25, after the patrolman pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother in an
overnight traffic stop.<br><br>
He had appealed, arguing that racism by the judge and prosecutors
corrupted his conviction at the hands of a mostly white jury.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, had appealed a federal judge's 2001 decision to
grant Abu-Jamal a new sentencing hearing because of the jury
instructions.<br><br>
Hundreds of people protested outside the federal building in Philadelphia
in May and an overflow crowd including legal scholars, students,
lawyers, the policeman's widow and Abu-Jamal's brother filled the
courtroom when the appeals court heard arguments about the case.<br><br>
The officer's widow, Maureen Faulkner, has kept her husband's memory
alive over the years, and recently co-wrote a book about the case. The
book, "Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain and
Injustice," written with radio talk-show host Michael Smerconish,
came out in December.<br><br>
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.
AP's earlier story is below.<br><br>
PHILADELPHIA (AP) A federal appeals court has ordered a new penalty
hearing for celebrity death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal (moo-MEE'-ah
AH'-boo jah-MAHL').<br><br>
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Abu-Jamal's conviction for the
1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer should stand. But it says he
should get a new sentencing hearing because of flawed jury
instructions.<br><br>
If prosecutors don't want to give him a new death penalty hearing,
Abu-Jamal would be sentenced automatically to life in prison.<br><br>
A Philadelphia jury convicted Abu-Jamal of killing Officer Daniel
Faulkner after the patrolman pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother in an
overnight traffic stop 27 years ago. <br><br>
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