Panther returned to cage

[Botnst]

Top US court rejects ex-Black Panther's plea

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal's bid for a new trial. He was convicted in 1982 of killing a white police officer and sentenced to death.

The high court upheld Abu-Jamal's conviction after his lawyers argued that the jury, composed of two blacks and 10 whites, had been unfair.

Since Abu-Jamal's conviction and death sentence, the case has become a focus for civil rights activists who contend racism was involved when he was found guilty for the 1981 shooting of Philadelphia policeman Daniel Faulkner.

Abu-Jamal's death sentence was overturned in 2008 by a federal court in Philadelphia, which found that the jury in the case had been incorrectly instructed.

The US Supreme Court has not ruled on his death sentence.

[cmac2012]

Vanity Fair had a good article several years back on the case. It corroborated most of what I'd already read and had new information.

The guy looks guilty as sin. It was quite the cause celebre around here for a long time and still somewhat. One of the local stations has his "Live, from death row" radio show, which they tape by telephone.