PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal (moo-MEE’-ah AH’-boo jah-MAHL’) is back in court requesting that his failed appeals attempts be vacated, so he can once again appeal his case.
FILE – In this July 25, 1995 file photo, Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a policeman, arrives at Philadelphia’s City Hall. Former death row inmate Abu-Jamal is back in court Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, requesting that his failed appeals attempts be vacated, so he can once again appeal his case. The former Black Panther spent 29 years on death row following his conviction in the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner. (AP Photo/Nanine Hartzenbusch, File)
The Thursday hearing on his request was continued from April to give attorneys time to find a document the defense said was necessary to show the bias of state Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille.
Lawyers for the former Black Panther, who spent 29 years on death row following his conviction in the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police Officer Daniel Faulkner, are petitioning under the Post-Conviction Relief Act to have his previous appeals thrown out to make way for the new appeal.
Abu-Jamal’s attorneys say Castille is biased because when he was Philadelphia’s district attorney, his office succeeded in getting the state Supreme Court to uphold Abu-Jamal’s conviction.
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