A US federal judge overturned the death sentence of former Black Panther and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal yesterday, ordering a new sentencing hearing for the convicted killer of a Philadelphia police officer in a case championed by death-penalty opponents worldwide.
Ruling on a defence petition for a new trial in the 20-year-old case, US District Judge William Yohn let stand Abu-Jamal's first-degree murder conviction for the 1981 shooting of a Philadelphia police officer, Daniel Faulkner.
However, in a 272-page opinion issued a little over a week after the 20th anniversary of the murder, Yohn gave state prosecutors 180 days to conduct a new sentencing hearing, citing errors in the death-penalty phase of the 1982 trial.
The ruling could give Abu-Jamal, now 47, a last chance to argue for his life in front of a jury in a state where convicted murderers can be punished by lethal injection. In fact, Yohn ordered that Abu-Jamal be given a life sentence if authorities did not meet his six-month deadline.
But Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham said her office would act to stay Yohn's ruling by lodging an appeal with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
The judge's decision is legally flawed, Abraham told reporters, while welcoming Yohn's finding that the trial which led to Abu-Jamal's conviction had been a fair one.
There's not going to be any hearing, or any other legal proceedings, except a properly filed appeal, she said. Unless all appeals that we are permitted to pursue are totally exhausted, only then will we get to the other issues.
Judge Yohn concluded that the instructions and verdict sheet used at Abu-Jamal's trial 19 years ago may have confused jurors in the penalty phase and led them to avoid consideration of mitigating circumstances in deciding on a sentence.
The Fraternal Order of Police branded Yohn's decision obscene, while Faulkner's widow tearfully asked in media interviews when the dead policeman's family would see justice.
Abu-Jamal's supporters are also unhappy with the outcome. Amnesty International issued a statement saying justice could only be served in the case by granting him a new trial.
Some European groups did welcome the decision. Rome-based anti-death penalty group Hands Off Cain called the ruling a good result.