HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
Published on Tuesday, December 18, 2001 by the Associated Press at 1:09 PM Federal Judge Throws Out Death Sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal PHILADELPHIA -- A federal judge threw out Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence on Tuesday, ruling that the former journalist and Black Panther is entitled to a new sentencing hearing for killing a Philadelphia police officer in 1981. U.S. District Judge William Yohn ordered the state to conduct the hearing within 180 days. "Should the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania not have conducted a new sentencing hearing ... the Commonwealth shall sentence petitioner to life imprisonment," the judge said in his 272-page ruling. Abu-Jamal is America's most famous death-row inmate - revered by a worldwide "Free Mumia" movement as a crusader against racial injustice, and reviled by the officers's supporters as an unrepentant cop-killer who deserves to die. The judge refused Abu-Jamal's request for a new trial, upholding his 1982 conviction on first-degree murder charges. The ruling could be appealed to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Abu-Jamal was convicted of shooting officer Daniel Faulkner, 25, during the early-morning hours of Dec. 9, 1981, after the officer pulled over Abu-Jamal's brother in a downtown traffic stop. C 2001 The Associated Press ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
