By Maryclaire Dale
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia, on orders from the Supreme Court, will again review the death sentence of famed death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.
The Nov. 9 hearing could prove to be a setback for Abu-Jamal. The ex-radio journalist was convicted in the 1981 killing of a Philadelphia police officer, a case that has made him an international cause celebre.
The Philadelphia appeals court had granted Abu-Jamal a new sentencing hearing based on what they called flawed jury instructions. But the Supreme Court this year upheld a death sentence in an Ohio case with similar jury issues — and ordered the court to revisit its Abu-Jamal ruling.
Defense lawyer Robert Bryan does not believe the Ohio case seals Abu-Jamal’s fate. He says they involve different facts.