Shaken to the core by the public's warm reception of Mumia Abu-Jamal's writings and recordings, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) has banned cameras and audio and video recording equipment from all its prisons and are enforcing a media blackout of all sights and sounds from prison. As prison officials slammed the door on the press, Philadelphia Judge Albert Sabo once again disregarded evidence of police misconduct in Mumia's case. One November 1996, he ruled that Veronica Jones's testimony detailing police coercion was "incredible and worthy of little belief."
At an October, 1996 hearing, Veronica testified that at Mumia's 1982 trial, under police threats of 15 years in prison on unrelated felony charges, she had changed her original, truthful statement that she had seen two men flee the crime scene immediately after hearing shots. (Critically wounded, Abu-Jamal had been unable to flee.)
A few days before the new year, Abu-Jamal's legal team filed a supplemental appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The filing was sparked by an important ruling handed down from a federal court in early December which said that Pennsylvania prison authorities had violated Mumia's constitutional rights when they opened, copied and circulated to state officials, including the Governor, sensitive legal mail from his attorneys. The Judge determined that this violation of attorney-client confidentiality "interfered entirely with counsel's ability to represent Plaintiff." The finding provides a clear legal basis for a new trial, if not the dismissal of all the charges.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court could schedule oral arguments for Mumia's appeal. They could order a new trial. Or they could deny Mumia's appeal outright, sending him on to federal court.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 1997
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