U.S. judge deals a setback to Abu-Jamal supporters
U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn Jr. wrote that he did not doubt
the sincerity of the groups' interest in the case, which has
received worldwide interest. But Yohn added that Abu-Jamal, convicted
and sentenced to death in the 1981 shooting of Philadelphia
Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, already is represented by a skilled
legal team of "privately retained counsel of his choice" and that
participation by others would be "unnecessary and unhelpful."
The ruling was a setback for the legal and political groups - ranging
from the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP to 22
members of Britain's Parliament. The groups had asked Yohn for permission
to lend their expertise on the complex legal issues in
Abu-Jamal's final federal appeal.
The law lets such groups ask a judge to intervene as amici curiae, or
"friends of the court." But the decision is up to the judge, and
there is no appeal.
"I'm quite surprised and disappointed at this ruling," said Karl Baker,
a lawyer with the city public defender's association who filed
one of the four amici petitions, for the ACLU and NAACP.
"The ACLU of Pennsylvania and the NAACP's Philadelphia chapter have
both been involved in this case for years," Baker added.
"We're not Johnny-come-latelies to this matter, and we are concerned
about a number of complex issues in this case that have only
been touched upon by the papers filed by Mumia's attorneys."
Yohn, however, wrote that none of the proposed amici briefs argued that
Abu-Jamal's lawyers were either inexperienced in
death-penalty cases or had missed a potential appellate issue.
"To permit amicus filings in this matter would present the real possibility
of a plethora of filings, each offered by a particular group
with a particular interest in this case," Yohn wrote.
"I fear that once trespassed, the slippery slope of permissiveness regarding
amicus filings may become inescapable," Yohn added.
"The delay occasioned by substantial additional filings will work to
the detriment of [Abu-Jamal] and the just and speedy
administration of this action by the court."
Since Abu-Jamal's federal habeas corpus appeal was filed last October,
Yohn has tried to rein in the lawyers and keep them focused
on the relatively narrow federal appeal issues.
Nevertheless, Yohn noted, the lawyers for Abu-Jamal, the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia District Attorney's
Office already have submitted "11 substantive filings exceeding 750
pages, addressing the factual and legal bases of 29 claims for
relief."
Yohn has stayed Abu-Jamal's execution while he decides whether to conduct
new evidentiary hearings or decide the appeal based
on the voluminous records of Abu-Jamal's trial and appeals in the Pennsylvania
courts.
The last scheduled date of execution had been Dec. 2, 1999.
Joseph A. Slobodzian's e-mail address is [email protected]
© 2000 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.