PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a ruling that had set aside the death sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer in a racially tinged case that has made the former Black Panther an international cause celebre.
The justices ordered the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to revisit its 2008 ruling that Abu-Jamal deserved a new sentencing hearing because of flawed jury instructions at his 1982 trial. The Supreme Court pointed to its ruling in an Ohio case last week, when it said a neo-Nazi killer did not deserve a new sentencing hearing on those grounds.
Prosecutors called the Ohio case directly on point. “The order pretty much says it all,” Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Hugh J. Burns Jr. said. “I don’t see how you can possibly distinguish them.” But Abu-Jamal’s lawyer insists the facts differ.
The 3rd Circuit could still order a federal trial court to consider Abu-Jamal’s case anew on other defense claims. Activists in the U.S. and Europe have rallied in support of Abu-Jamal’s claims that he was the victim of a racist justice system.
Other Supreme Court action Tuesday
• Wellons trial: Justices told the federal appeals court in Atlanta to reconsider the 1993 murder trial of Marcus Wellons. After Wellons, a black man, was convicted and sentenced to die, the jurors presented the female judge with a gift of “chocolate shaped as male genitalia” and the bailiff a chocolate gift “shaped as female breasts.” Wellons’ lawyer cited the “gifts” as “evidence of the jury’s racial bias against him.”
• Closure refused: The court refused to order the immediate closure of shipping structures near Chicago to contain the ravenous Asian carp. Hours later, federal officials said two DNA samples taken beyond the final barriers between Chicago-area waterways and Lake Michigan had tested positive for Asian carp.
• Jury selection: Justices ruled that the Constitution’s guarantee of a public trial means judges may not ordinarily close their courtrooms during jury selection.
• Conviction reinstated: The court again reinstated the conviction of a California woman for shaking her 7-week-old grandson. The high court has twice issued other decisions reinstating murder convictions and overruling the 9th Circuit. It has instructed the appeals court to consider Shirley Ree Smith’s case again.
The Associated Press
