Prosecutor explains challenge to Mumia Abu-Jamal hearing
Posted Feb 15, 2019 4:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Philadelphia prosecutors say they’re fighting an order that gives prison activist Mumia Abu-Jamal a new court hearing because the ruling is so broad it could undo countless other cases.
District Attorney Larry Krasner filed a motion Friday outlining his challenge. The issue is now with the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
The 64-year-old Abu-Jamal is serving a life sentence for a 1981 police officer’s slaying.
A Philadelphia judge recently granted him a chance at a new appeal because a judge who heard his initial appeal had a passing involvement in the case as Philadelphia district attorney. Krasner says the U.S. Supreme Court has granted new hearings only when there’s a more direct conflict.
Abu-Jamal’s lawyer, Judith Ritter, says the city judge’s ruling was not as broad as Krasner maintains and found clear bias against her client.
The Associated Press
