By Jeff Mackler, December 6, 2011
Mumia's
attorneys and supporters are now focused on the fight for a new trial before a
new jury where evidence of Mumia's innocence can for the first time be
presented in full public view. Mumia's 1982 racist frame-up trial has been
widely condemned, with organizations ranging from Amnesty International, the
European Parliament and the NAACP to heads of state in France and South Africa
demanding a new trial.
Winning
a new trial for anyone convicted of murder is no easy task. Mumia's legal team
must meet an extremely high legal standard. This includes presenting
"compelling and not been previously litigated new evidence" that
could not have been "previously discovered through due
diligence." A special investigator and associated team has been hired to
begin this difficult and arduous process.
We
have reached the end of one struggle and the beginning of another. But, better
to fight on for Mumia's freedom in the context of a threat of execution NOT
hanging over his head.
In
truth, the recent Supreme Court action, essentially affirming previous
decisions of the Federal District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Third Circuit that Mumia's death sentence was unconstitutional, was a political
decision as well as an affirmation of the "letter of the law," one
that was 30 years in coming and one that never would have come had it not been
for a massive national and international effort on Mumia's behalf.
A
Philadelphia, if not national decision, was obviously made at the highest
levels to avoid a new sentencing hearing where evidence of innocence could have
been presented that would have exposed the entire racist and frame-up nature of
Mumia's 1982 trial.
Such
a hearing, the DA likely judged, might have led to a level of public
outrage and exposure of the criminal "justice" system sufficient in
itself to force a new trial despite formal legal restrictions to the contrary.
The risk to an institution where the racism inherent in U.S. society, expressed
in the actions and mentality of corrupt police officers, judges, prosecutors
and reactionary laws, makes justice for the poor and oppressed an
impossibility, was too great to contemplate. Mumia's trial and
"conviction" classically revealed all of the elements of a rigged
racist and classist judicial system. Philadelphia officials chose to
avoid any further risk to its credibility.
One
fact is certain. After 30 years of insisting that justice has been done – that
Mumia's rights were fully protected – the State of Pennsylvania has been
proven, through state institutions of its own choosing, to have violated the
U.S. Constitution. Mumia has been unconstitutionally held in a tiny death row
cell, in virtual isolation from all family and friends - all physical contact
barred - for thirty years.
This
constitutional violation was scored by Mumia's legal team almost three decades
ago when Mumia's first appeal included the simple assertion that the presiding
Judge Albert Sabo violated the law by falsely instructing the jury regarding
their deliberation. This is the same "hanging judge" Sabo who stated
before two witnesses in his private antechambers that he was "going to
help 'em fry the n****r."
Sabo
falsely told the jury that in order to not execute Mumia and instead arrive at
a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole, they had to be
unanimous with regard to considering any and all mitigating circumstances.
Contrary to Judge Sabo the law states clearly in the Supreme Court's 1988 Mills
v. Maryland case, that a single juror is sufficient to place any mitigating
circumstance sufficient to negate a death penalty decision, before the jury for
its consideration.
Sunday,
December 11 at 2:00 pm is set for a mass meeting to open a new phase in the
struggle for Mumia's freedom. Join us at the Laney College Forum, Oakland, CA
at 2 pm. (one block from the Lake Merritt BART station). Speakers include:
Angela Davis, Ramona Africa, Barbara Becnel, Jeff Mackler, Boots Riley, Crystal
Bybee, Bishop Desmond Tutu (via video) and Michelle Alexander (via video).
Admission free for Peralta students. All others $10 sliding scale. See attached
flyer.
In
Philadelphia, a parallel meeting featuring Cornel West is set for Friday, Dec.
9, 7:30 PM at the National Constitution Center.
In Philadelphia contact: 267-760-7344
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