Mumia Abu-Jamal, a political prisoner in the United States known all over the world, was unjustly convicted of the murder of Philadelphia cop Daniel Faulkner in 1982. Mumia has always maintained his innocence and over the decades has filed many appeals to the courts. At least five were rejected, and Mumia has now been in prison for 42 years.

On October 26, a hearing was held for Mumia’s latest appeal, which argues that there was jury bias and suppressed evidence at his trial. This appeal was denied by Common Pleas court Judge Lucretia Clemons.

Mumia, a former Black Panther and radical journalist, is now 67 years old and has long struggled with serious heart conditions and other health problems. In 2011, he was moved off death row, but since then has been held on life without parole.

Abu-Jamal was convicted for the December 9, 1981 murder of Faulkner in Philadelphia. That day, Mumia’s younger brother, William Cook, was stopped in his car by Faulkner. Mumia was working as a cab driver and coincidentally was passing by and came to his brother’s assistance. In some kind of shoot out, Faulkner was shot and killed, and Mumia was shot in the stomach. Mumia’s 1982 trial found him guilty of killing Faulkner and sentenced him to death. Evidence of an unfair trial generated worldwide concern, and in 2000, Amnesty International investigated the case. Without taking a stand as to whether Mumia was guilty or innocent, Amnesty International concluded that “numerous aspects of this case clearly failed to meet minimum international standards.”

The current appeal is based on new evidence. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner discovered six boxes of records related to the case in an office storeroom, which were released to the courts in December of 2019 during an earlier appeal in Mumia’s case. Markings on the boxes indicate that the six boxes are part of 32 boxes—the whereabouts of the other 26 boxes is unknown.

Abu-Jamal’s defense petition includes some of the newly-discovered evidence that documents how key witnesses for the prosecution received promises of money for their testimony and evidence of favorable treatment in pending criminal cases.

One newly-discovered document is a handwritten letter sent from the state’s star witness at trial, Robert Chobert, to the prosecutor, Joseph McGill, saying, “I have been calling you to find out about the money own (sic) to me… Do you need me to sign anything. How long will it take to get it.” Chobert was one of only two witnesses at the trial who claimed to have seen Mumia shoot Faulkner—no other evidence directly connected Mumia to the killing.

Mumia’s lawyers argue that this letter indicates that Chobert “understood there to be some prior agreement or understanding between himself and the prosecution, such that the prosecution ‘owed’ him money for his testimony.”

The petition also documents the blatantly unconstitutional practice of striking Black jurors during Mumia’s original trial. In addition to Judge Sabo, who presided over Mumia’s trial (and who was overheard by a court stenographer saying, “I am going to help them fry the nigger”), the Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney, Jack McMahon, said in a 1986 training tape that getting “a competent, fair and impartial jury… Well, that's ridiculous… You don't want smart people. But if you're sitting down and you're going to take Blacks, you want older Blacks." This training tape was made after Mumia’s trial, but it documents the standard practice by district attorneys.

The new evidence shows that McGill struck Black jurors at a 71 percent rate. This is significantly higher than the usual strike rate for white jurors. McGill’s reasons for accepting some white jurors and not accepting non-white jurors were in his notes. But Judge Clemons dismissed the claim of striking Black jurors on procedural grounds and did this without even addressing the validity of the claim.  

Judge Clemons also dismissed records from McGill that extensively tracked and monitored another key prosecution witness, Cynthia White, whose pending criminal cases were ALL dropped by the prosecutors following her testimony—indicating that White may have given testimony (favorable to the prosecution) in exchange for getting charges dropped.

This new evidence about the racist trial of Mumia prompted calls for a re-examination of his conviction. And a petition was submitted asking for a new trial. The denial of this appeal adds but another chapter in the completely unjust persecution of Mumia Abu-Jamal