Bad news for Mumia: Legal Update on U.S. Supreme Court

[Jalili]

Here's an update on Mumia's case from his attorney, Robert R. Bryan.

The very bad news is that the State of Pennsylvania has decided to
challenge a ruling of the Federal District Court that reversed Mumia
death sentence several years ago.

The State of Pennsylvania will attempt to convince the U.S. Supreme
Court to reinstate the jury trial sentence of execution by lethal
injection.

While most legal scholars believe that they will fail based on "legal
ground," we have learned from bitter experience that in the absence of
a mass movement of some significance the courts can and will do as
they please.

I will leave the technical details to a future report. But for now it
is sufficient to state that Mumia's very life ius once again on the line.

Meanwhile, Robert R. Bryan has filed an appeal of the Third Cirecuit
oif the U.S. Court of Appeals decision to reject Mumia's request for a
new trial.

Comradely,

Jeff
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LEGAL UPDATE

Date: October 18, 2008
From: Robert R. Bryan, lead counsel, San Francisco
Subject: U.S. Supreme Court developments concerning Mumia Abu-Jamal,
death row

U.S. Supreme Court There are new developments in the case of my
client, Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is on Pennsylvania' s death row, that are
the most significant and deadly since his 1981 arrest. The
prosecution has advised the Supreme Court that it is seeking reversal
of the federal decision which ordered a new jury trial on the question
of the death penalty. Earlier I made an appearance in the court on
our ongoing effort to win an entirely new jury trial on the issue of
innocence, so that Mumia can be freed.

We are now at the crossroads of the case. This is a life and death
struggle in the fight for Mumia’s freedom. His life hangs in the
balance. The following are details as to what has been occurring in
the Supreme Court.

Abu-Jamal v. Beard, U.S. Sup. Ct. No. 08A299 On October 3, I filed in
the Supreme Court a Motion for Extension of Time To File Petition for
Writ of Certiorari. Justice David H. Souter granted the motion on
October 9. The Petition is now due on December 19, 2008.

The issues I will be presenting on behalf of Mumia include racism in
jury selection and the prosecutor’s misrepresentations to the jury
during the guilt phase of the 1982 trial. These were denied last
spring by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit,
Philadelphia. Abu-Jamal v. Horn, 520 F.3d 272 (3rd Cir. 2008). The
court was split 2-1 on the racism question.

The prosecution’s use of racism in selecting the jury is a strong
issue because of the powerful dissenting opinion by Judge Thomas L.
Ambro. In voting that relief should be granted, he wrote that
“[e]xcluding even a single person from a jury because of race violates
the Equal Protection Clause of our Constitution� and concluded that
“everyone is entitled to a fair and impartial trial by a jury of his
or her peers.�

A major problem we have encountered is that Mumia’s previous lawyers
neither developed essential evidence nor raised some issues of
constitutional significance. Such failings are inexcusable. For
example his attorneys during the period 1994-2001, failed to even get
the racial composition of the panel from which the jury was selected.
They had the jurors’ names and addresses, and could have gone out and
obtained this information in a day. Once the case went up on appeal
it was too late to introduce this crucial evidence which would have
established beyond question that African-Americans were
underrepresented on the jury panel and that the prosecution used
discriminatory racial practices in jury selection. Justice Ambro
pointed out in his dissent that this deficiency should not serve as a
basis to deny relief in view of the other evidence we have of
prosecutorial racism. Another issue concerning the judge's racism and
prejudice at trial was doomed from the start because it was not even
presented by the previous lawyers. Rather, they only argued that the
judge was unfair 13 years later at a 1995 evidentiary hearing. It was
an incompetent mistake that waived this strong issue. Sadly, Mumia is
bound by the errors of those lawyers.

Beard v. Abu-Jamal, U.S. Sup. Ct. No. 08A315 The Philadelphia
District Attorney is seeking reversal of the federal court decision
which granted a new jury trial on the question of the death penalty.
Their intent is to see Mumia executed. That was announced in an
extension motion filed in the Supreme Court. The court ordered on
October 14 that the government petition must be filed by November 19,
2008. We will then submit briefing in opposition to the death penalty
arguments.

Abu-Jamal v. Pennsylvania, U.S. Sup. Ct. No. 08-5456 In a ruling not
related to the present litigation, the Supreme Court on October 6
issued an order denying the petition we had filed seeking review of a
decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. That concerned the denial
of a new trial based upon the fact that the prosecution persuaded
witnesses to lie in order to obtain a conviction and death judgment
against my client. This arises from adverse rulings by the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
The District Attorney successfully argued that Mumia’s previous
lawyers had failed to raise the misconduct issues in a timely manner.
Even though this evidence of fraud is not before the Supreme Court, I
will certainly be able to use it at a new jury trial.

Donations for Mumia's Legal Defense Due to the developments in the
Supreme Court, the legal defense for Mumia is in dire need of funds.
The legal costs will likely reach $100,000. To help, please make your
checks payable to the “National Lawyers Guild Foundation� (indicate
"Mumia" on the bottom left). These donations to Mumia’s defense are
tax deductible, and should be mailed to:

Committee To Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
P.O. Box 2012
New York, NY 10159-2012

Conclusion More activism and support is needed in the campaign to
free Mumia from the death penalty and prison. It is an affront to
civilized standards and international law that he remains in prison
and on death row. We must have hope and fight for justice.

Yours very truly,

Robert R. Bryan
Law Offices of Robert R. Bryan
2088 Union Street, Suite 4
San Francisco, California 94123-4117

Lead counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal
RobertRBryan@ aol.com



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