APPEALS COURT CALLS NEW HEARING FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An appeals court Thursday upheld Mumia Abu-Jamal's conviction for murdering a police officer 27 years ago but rejected prosecutors' request to reinstate the death penalty for the former Black Panther.

A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that because the jury that sentenced Abu-Jamal to die was given flawed instructions in the penalty phase, he must either get a new sentencing hearing or be sentenced to life in prison.

I've been following Mumia's appeals on his case for a while. Here is the Free Mumia website.

Jeralyn at TalkLeft has a post up about it.

Mumia's supporters are unhappy and planning protests:

They said rallies were being planned for as early as tomorrow outside federal courthouses in Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco.

What's next?

Either side could ask the panel to reconsider the decision, ask the entire Third Circuit to consider the case, or eventually ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.